How Mengi ran away from school to fulfil his ambition

The University of Strathclyde where Dr Reginald Mengi studied. Photo | File

What you need to know:

Mengi, who played a big role in transforming the country’s media industry, died yesterday at a Dubai hospital

Dar es Salaam. Reginald Mengi (1942-2019) nurtured ambitions of becoming a chartered accountant from his early years in secondary school.
He recounts in his book I can, I must, I will: The Spirit of Success published last year that the idea of becoming an accountant started after he overheard a conversation about accomplishments of an accountant who worked with a diamond mining firm.
Dr Mengi died yesterday in Dubai where he had gone for treatment.
“The description of the profession sounded like the best in the world and to me it seemed attainable because of my aptitude and love for mathematics,” Dr Mengi writes in the book.
So a month after he was admitted at Old Moshi Secondary School for Advanced Level studies, the Kilimanjaro Native Cooperative Union advertised a scholarship for a six-month course for an accounts clerk in Scotland, which put the young student in a real dilemma.
He recounts the dilemma; “Naturally I knew that being an accounts clerk was below my ambition and potential… [since I knew] that upon my completion of my A-Level studies, I would definitely have made it to the celebrated Makerere College in Uganda for an Economics Degree.” “Yet, the idea of going abroad was thrilling and exciting for me and I guess for any young Tanganyikan at that time. However, as noted earlier there was a dark spot. I was a bright Form Six student whose performance had been noted by the headmaster, Mr Mundi, who was already talking about me going to Makerere College in Uganda to pursue a degree after completing my A-Level education.”
Fearful that the headmaster and his family would not approve of his plans to quit school and go abroad, he  “quickly and discreetly applied for the scholarship,” and a few days prior to his departure, he ran away from the school and moved into a hostel, paid for by a family friend.
He thought he was really hiding, waiting for his departure till his elder brother Elitira appeared in the hiding place ordering him to disclose his plans and get blessings of both the headmaster and family.
“I did this and to my surprise, I was forgiven and offered their blessings for what I was venturing into,” Dr Mengi writes in the book. When he arrived in Scotland at the Scottish College of Commerce, which later became University of Strathclyde, he decided against enrolling at the six-month course because it was below his ambitions to become a chartered accountant.
But to study accounting he had to have completed Form Six, so he decided to enrol at an evening class programme for A-Level studies. KNCU refused to fund his A’ Level studies when he requested. He had to find some part time jobs to be able to get money to fund his studies and for upkeep.
“I went through a very taxing period having to juggle with working very long hours at part time jobs, being short of money and coping with the pressure of evening studies,” Mengi writes in the book.
But he eventually finished his studies and pursued his dream course and became a chartered accountant. He came back to Tanzania in 1971 after finishing his studies and joined Cooper Brothers.