Njombe, 07 April, 2021 / 6:03 pm (ACI Africa).
The leadership and people of God in Tanzania are paying glowing tribute to late Bishop Alfred Leonhard Maluma, the country’s President describing him as a progressive Church leader who championed collaboration.
Bishop Maluma who was at the helm of Tanzania’s Njombe Diocese since his episcopal ordination in September 2002 passed on Tuesday, April 6, at the age of 65.
In his April 6 statement, the Vicar General of the Catholic Diocese of Njombe made public the death of the Tanzanian Bishop stating, “Rev. Fr. Justin Sapula of the Catholic Diocese of Njombe is sad to announce the death of Rt. Rev. Bishop Alfred Leonhard Maluma of the Catholic Diocese of Njombe which occurred at 6.40 on the night of 06/04/2021 at the Muhimbili National Referral Hospital.”
In her April 6 Tweet, Tanzania’s President Samia Saluhu Hassan says she is “saddened” by the news of the Bishop’s death whom she knew as “a good person, and a progressive leader who always championed collaboration with the government.”
In the Tweet, the Head of State who took the reins of the East African nation following the death of President John Pombe Magufuli last month expresses her condolences to “all Catholics in the Diocese of Njombe and all those affected by this tragedy.”
