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Saturday, October 20, 2018

Tanzanian billionaire seized by gunmen nine days ago returns home

Dewji, 43, was kidnapped by unknown men on October 11 as he left his early morning workout in the commercial capital of Dar es Salaam, police said at the time.
His disappearance made international headlines, with his family offering a reward of one billion Tanzanian shillings (US $440,000) for information leading to his rescue. Dewji, who has previously served as member of the parliament, is one of the nation's most prominent business tycoons and is often described as Africa's youngest billionaire.
Around 3:15 a.m. local time Saturday, a tweet attributed to him on his organization's account, the Mo Dewji Foundation, announced that he has been found.
"I thank Allah that I have returned home safely. I thank all my fellow Tanzanians, and everyone around the world for their prayers. I thank the authorities of Tanzania, including the police force, for working for my safe return," it said.

Minister: Kidnappers freed him at 2 a.m.

Tanzanian environment minister, January Makamba, who's a close friend of Dewji, tweeted that he visited him at his home Saturday morning. He appears healthy except for rope marks where kidnappers tied his hands and legs, he said.
His kidnappers freed him about 2 a.m., Makamba said, adding that police officials will release additional details later.
"Mohammed Dewji is now back home safely. I have just spoken to him and his father 20 minutes ago. In his voice, he's the usual Mo. So he is okay. Thank you all for your prayers. God is really great," Makamba tweeted.
Calls to Makamba's phone went unanswered. CNN called Tanzania police spokesman, Barnabas Mwakalukwa, who declined to comment and referred all calls to regional police commissioner Lazaro Mambosasa.
CNN's calls to Mambosasa went unanswered.
Immediately after the kidnapping, Mambosasa said the abductors accessed the gym through gates left open deliberately. They drove into the hotel and opened fire before shoving Dewji into a car and speeding off, he said at the time.
The motive for the kidnapping is still unknown, but police said at the time that they believe it's a "ransom" kidnapping.
Dewji is Africa's youngest billionaire and runs the METL group, a family business that operates in six African countries. The pan-African conglomerate has massive holdings in textiles, and food and beverage manufacturing businesses in the continent.
Dewji, who is widely known as Mo, launched a beverage brand called Mo Cola to compete with Coca Cola in 2014. Forbes Magazine said he has a net worth of $1.5 billion, and described him as Africa's youngest billionaire.
He served two terms in the Tanzania parliament before he resigned in 2015 to dedicate more time to the family business.

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