The owner of Mombasa Cement Company Hasmukh Patel passed away on Thursday at a Mombasa hospital. He was aged 58 years.
Popularly known as Hasu, the cement billionaire is reported to have suffered stomach complications for two days. He was later pronounced dead upon arrival at the Hospital.
The family's spokesperson Samir Bhalo confirmed the death and noted that his burial arrangements are ongoing.
Patel was mourned as a kind-hearted businessman who touched the lives of many. Through the Hasmukh Patel Foundation, Patel has supported needy students across the country with scholarships.
He has also supported various charitable causes across various industries including championing environmental conservation.
"Patel will be remembered for his active participation in society affairs in Mombasa as well as his generous support for the underprivileged," Mombasa Governor Abdullswamad Sheriff Nassir commiserated.
The billionaire was an accomplished industrialist and the founder of one of Kenya's biggest cement manufacturers in the country. He was also the director of Corrugated Iron Sheets in Kenya and Tororo Cement which is based in Uganda.
Patel championed environmental conservation with the most notable where he supported the transformation of Kibarani Dumpiste in Mombasa into a tourist destination.
Patel’s fame burst into full flower when he oversaw the conversion of Kibarani Dumpsite into an attractive park.
Together with the goodwill of former President Uhuru Kenyatta and former Governor Hassan Joho, Patel turned the 20-acre dumpsite into a recreational park at a cost of Ksh700 million.
A superliner was poured across the land to seal the gas outlets that emitted the gas. He further promoted the conservation of the environment by planting 2,000 mangrove trees near the ocean to help break the winds that were initially uprooting trees in the park.
Through a well-planned rehabilitation programme, more than 500,000 plant species such as Ashok trees, Christmas Palm trees, Jacaranda trees, Bougainvillea, coconut trees, sisal and Casuarina called the park home.
Patel will be remembered by the people from the coast as a businessman as well as environmental conservationists. He has left behind a widow and three children.
