Nurdin Manji

Nurdin, my eldest brother, was the first born child of Rehmat and Fazal Manji. He was born in Tukuyu, Tanganyika. In the mid 1930s, the family moved to Mbeya, where he grew up

Nurdin joined my father's business in 1951 and expanded the business in the name of Fazal Manji & Sons.The business included second largest privately owned goods and passenger transport services in Mbeya region, agencies of Karimjee Jivanji & Co Ltd dealing with International Motor Mart Ltd, Caltex Oil Company, Michelin Tires, All India Insurance Company etc. In 1960s, Nurdin also ran Caltex Star Service Station and Red Star Transport Service in Mbeya.. He also opened an auto parts shop called Nurdin's Auto Spares. My second brother Shamshudin joined the business in early 1958.He expanded the wholesale business and obtained Coca Cola, Tanganyika Fishnet agencies. Prior to Nationalization in 1971, he also was in negotiation with foreign companies in bringing in manufacturing industry in partnership with my brother in law Sadrudin Mohamed Dewshi

After 1961 Tanganyika's independence, my brother Nurdin, in 1964, also went into partnership with two of our loyal and experienced drivers who had worked for us for many years. The first partnership was with Thomas Mosses and the company's name was Thomas Mosses & Co, a passenger bus service company operating between Mbeya and Chimala. The second partnership was with Mohamed Nakamo in the name of Mbeya Bus Service operating between Mbeya, Mbozi and Tunduma .This was the FIRST example in Mbeya business community to involve local Africans in business.

Nurdin got married in 1956 to Daulat(Dolly), daughter of a prominent Dodoma family of Rajpar Ladak and niece of Karim Manji, another prominent family in Iringa.

In the summer of 1972, Nurdin's family left Tanzania and settled in Toronto, Ontario Canada. They have a daughter Shemin who became a lawyer getting her degree from Osgood Hall, University of York in Toronto. She got married to Shahin Mohamed from Rwanda/ Burundi. They have a daughter Zahra who is attending McGill University in Montreal. Shemin is a Senior Legal Counsel at the Ministry of Attorney General, Financial Services Commission of Ontario Canada. She also worked as an arbitrator with the Financial Services Commission of Ontario, adjudicating and mediating disputes under the Statutory Accident Benefits Schedules and Insurance Act. She is also Part-time vice Chair for Workplace Safety and Insurance Appeals Tribunal Markham Ontario. She also served as Legal Member in the Aga Khan Regional Council of Ontario and Arbitration Board.

Their son Karim became an IT specialist. Karim married Shelina, daughter of Kurban & Rozy Gulamhussein Bharwani of Mbeya. They have 2 sons, Zain and Raheel. Both of them are sports oriented and they became under 18 and under 16 Canadian tennis champions. Zain read for Bachelor of Science degree with Double Major in Computer Science & Economics and Minor in Statistics at University of Toronto. Zain also became University of Toronto tennis champion. He is a recipient of many academic and sports awards. In 2015, Zain and two of his friends founded a company FIIX, a car servicing and repair model at client’s residences instead of at a garage. In 2019, FIIX was acquired by Wrench from USA. After the sale of FIIX, they founded LAZER Technologies, a digital product company in Toronto. He is presently CEO of the company. Raheel attended Indiana University on Sport`s scholarship. He became Men`s Tennis Team Captain. He has done ATP tours as a Professional Tennis Player. He was University of Oklahoma Men`s Tennis Assistant Coach. Presently he is a CEO of Mission Elite, which is a management, consulting and development firm overseeing top professionals, NCAA and Juniors worldwide.

Both Nurdin & his wife Daulat (Dolly) passed away in Toronto.

Nurdin Fazal Manji with Thomas Mosses Partners- Thomas Mosses & Co. 1962 Photo: Dr Moh'd Manji collection
Nurdin Fazal Manji with Mohamed Nakamo- Partners Mbeya Bus Service: Photo: Dr Moh'd Manji collection
Star Service Station Caltex
Red Star Transport Service 1965