"There is an important philanthropist. It will be unfair if I do not recognise him for the work that he has done for us," those were the opening words of Mombasa Governor Ali Hassan Joho in praise of the county's billionaire and Mombasa Cement Limited managing director Hasmukh Patel during a January 2019 rally.
At the time, the tycoon was in the process of turning the ugly site of the Kibarani Dumpsite into a tourist attraction as well as recreation park.
In late 2020, after pumping a sum worth Ksh700 million, the tycoon had managed to build the park and completely alleviate the foul smell from from the dumpsite.
The billionaire, popularly known as Hasu, has been an important philanthropic figure in the lives of Mombasa's poor families and slum dwellers since he joined Mombasa Cement Company in 2007.
The Cement company is one of the leading cement producers in East Africa with a plant size of 1,663 acres and is expected to expand to a size of almost 2,800 acers.
The company is also the most technologically advanced and environmentally friendly cement producers in East Africa with an annual capacity of 1.8 million metric tonnes of cement and 1 million metric tonnes of clinker.
The billionaire also serves as the director of Corrugated Sheets Limited in Kenya and Tororo Cement Limited in Uganda.
In 2008, the reclusive tycoon, known as a shy philanthropist, started the feeding programme, Sahajanad Feeding Centre, which provides meals to over 40,000 poor individuals according to KTN News.
The tycoon has also created a school, Sahajanand Special School, that provides basic needs besides education for over 5,000 pupils.
He has also built concrete fences around schools and police stations for free in what he termed as giving back to the community for what he has been able to achieve. He, however, turned down a request by Mombasa residents to join politics.
Separately, Hasu also supplies slum with three trucks of water from Monday to Friday and ups the number to four during the weekends.
In April 2013, the company settled the medical bills amounting to Ksh2.2 million for fifty two patients at Coast Regional Hospital.
In transforming the park, Hasu partnered with Joho and President Uhuru Kenyatta. The first steps involved the ban of dumping of waste by Governor Joho which was followed by an order by President Kenyatta which revoked all Kibarani dumpsite land allocations to private developers.
The huge task ahead was dealing with the mountains of waste which were flattened using heavy machineries such as excavators and graders.
After the grounds were levelled with quarry dust and soil, another headache arose in the form of a foul smell emanating from the garbage that began to rot under the soil. A superliner was poured across the 20-acre piece of land to seal the gas outlets that emitted the gas.
He attended Aga Khan Educational Services Schools before moving to Kingston University in London, United Kingdom.
