AfricaPress-Tanzania: THE acting Managing Director of Kilimanjaro Airport Development Company (Kadco), Engineer Christopher Mukoma, is dead.
Confirming the death on Friday, Kadco’s Estate and Environmental Manager, Mr Hamisi Tembele, said Mr Mukoma died at his home in Sakina area after a short illness.
Engineer Mukoma passed on in the early hours of Friday, according to Mr Tembele.
“It is with great sadness that we are announcing the sudden death of our MD,” said Mr Tembele in a telephone interview with ‘Daily News’.
Engineer Mukoma had until his death been acting as Kadco’s MD, with the government renewing his contract following outstanding performance at the company which manages the Kilimanjaro International Airport (KIA).
Under his leadership, KIA revenues jumped from 13bn/- in 2011 to a whopping 26bn/- last year.
He is also credited for enhancing security at the airport, which include the successful arrest of Jun Fung, a Chinese businessman who was attempting to smuggle Tanzanite and other minerals out of the country.
The China-based businessman was arrested at KIA on December 22, 2018 as he tried to smuggle out 50m/- worth of the gemstones through the busy airport.
Worth of mention was valuable inputs into Kadco that saw the number of passengers using the facility rise from 641,167 a decade ago to 1.5million today.
Engineer Mukoma is also credited for being behind the major rehabilitation of the airport.
During their visit to their airport in March this year, the Public Investment Committee (PIC) of the Tanzania Parliament expressed its satisfaction on how the Kadco operated and managed KIA and recommended the confirmation of all acting managerial positions, including Engineer Mukoma’s.
The company was also lauded for undertaking public emergency contingency and health plans meant to check coronavirus and other cases proficiently.
The MPs challenged other airports in the country to borrow a leaf from KADCO on how best to manage the airports, ensuring quality services to both domestic and international passengers, alongside raising revenue.
