IMMENSE GOAN
CONTRIBUTION
TO THE KENYA CIVIL
SERVICE
Compiled
by Johnny Lobo from various sources and
clippings
S R Rodrigues
1874 Born in Aldona Goa
1895 Travelled to East Africa in a dhow and joined the
British East Africa Company in Mombasa
1900 Transferred to Nairobi
1901 Went to Goa on his first long leave
1902 Married Mary Lobo, my dad’s sister
1911 Took my dad, Evaristo Lobo, to Africa and
employed him in the Treasury
1917 Helped form the non-European subordinate civil
service
1921 Prime mover in the name change to Kenya Asian
Civil Service Association
1925 S R
Rodrigues retires on completion of 30 years’ service. He held the highest post
then od book-keeper
He captured the
pioneering spirits of the boys back home when he summarized his experience as
follows: “I left Goa for Africa in 1896 when I was barely 21 years old. We
landed in Mombasa tired, confused and anxious. I got a job with E.A. Protectorate Government in Mombasa. As
soon as I joined, I was ordered to proceed to Machakos. Since the railway was
not complete, we had to walk. The journey started by crossing Makupa Creek by
boat and we then walked to Changamwe, which was six miles from Mombasa. From
Changamwe to Mombasa, we walked 300 miles at four miles per hour and 12 miles per
day. We walked for about 30 continuous days. For company, I had six “askaris”
and fifty Swahili porters and two personal servants.”
TWO KEY GOANS TO BE PRESENTED TO THE PRINCESS
(Unknown news clipping)
News has been released that Kenya’s Chief Secretary has selected
two Goans to be presented with their wives to her Royal Highness Princess when
she visits Nairobi this month. They are Mr Saluzinho Mendes and Mr Paschal de
Mello. It is understood that the Government desires to bring to the notice of
Her Royal Highness the extent of the loyalty, devotion to duty and the
contribution the Goan community have made towards the administration of the
Colony.
The community will be proud of the Government’s manifestation of
the appreciation of the services of these two Goans. Both possess long,
meritorious and varied service in the Administrative Branch of the Service, as
will be seen from the following brief history of each of them.
MR Saluzinho Mendes, MBE
Mr Mendes was educated in Goa and Bombay and joined the Provincial
Administration in 1928. After serving in
a number of districts in the Colony in the capacity of District Clerk, and
cashier, Mr Mendes was appointed to the post of Provincial Head Clerk. He is
the present Provincial Officer Superintendent, Kisumu. His service in Nyanza earned him recently
the M.B.E. Mr Mendes devotes his leisure
hours for the welfare of the community in Kisumu and was one of those behind the
scheme which produced the new Goan Institute building there recently.
Mr Paschoal de MELLO MBE: Mr de Mello received his education in Karachi at that well-known institution St Patrick’s and D.J. Sind College. His appointment to the service dates from 1929. After seeing service in a number of stations, including the remote outposts of the Northern Frontier, he was appointed to the post of Provincial Head Clerk Mombasa. Mr De Mello was selected for transfer to the Establishment Section of the Ministry of African Affairs. Mr de Mello is a prominent member of the community who despite his numerous duties has been closely connected, both in Mombasa and Nairobi, with the community’s and institute’s affairs.
J.M.V. (Valu) De Abreu M.B.E.
The only known
Goan to be President
of a Goan
institution (the Mombasa
Institute) on 13
occasions.
NORBERT MENEZES
A very staunch and active founder
member lived in Forest Road in Villa Menezes. Norbert worked for the Public Works
Department. The statue of Christ the King in St Francis Xavier Church in
Parklands was donated by the Menezes family. He loved sports and was passionate
about helping people. A very good badminton and tennis player too. He enjoyed
entertaining and supporting the clubs, travelling and keeping the friendships
of a large circle of friends.
L. DA CRUZ
He had a congenital foot deformity.
He came to Nairobi in 1914 and joined the Accountant-General’s Department.
According to R P Abreo “Along with his colleagues S.R. Rodrigues of the Treasury
and Leandro De Mello of the Provincial Administration, he was another prime mover
in the foundation of the Non-European Subordinate Civil Service Association. Later called the Asian Civil Service. He adds
that “he was an indefatigable work who did a lot to represent the grievances of
the Asian Staff to the Government for amelioration. He was a Council Member
several times and also served as its president. The Goan Academic Circle me at
L da Cruz’s house. The idea was to foster music, plays and talks. Several
founder members of the GG attended. L da Cruz was also instrumental in setting
up the Goan Overseas Association with Dr A C L D’Souza and others; serving as
its first treasurer, later secretary of the GOA. He helped put the faltering
Goan School on sound footing. He was awarded the British Empire Medal for his
service to the Treasury.
C F da CUNHA
Made his career in the
Secretariat and rose to the highest position available for which he was awarded
the MBE. A keen tennis player and prominent in societal affairs. He ran a raffle
in aid of the Goan School and was a prominent parishioner of St Francis Xavier
Church.
A B REGO
A founder member of the Goan
Gymkhana, Rego was a man of great integrity, full of good humour, very sociable
and affable. Many will remember him for his loyalty, counsel and advice. He was
always very supportive of initiatives by individual members in sports and
cultural events. He worked in the Treasury in Nairobi before moving to Mombasa
where he worked for over 33 years at the Government Coast Agency. His many
sports trophies bear testimony to his many achievements in sports mainly
Tennis, Badminton, Hockey and Cricket. In 1935 he represented East Africa in
Hockey. He partnered Mrs Maria Dantas to win the East African Championships in the
early 1930s.
GERALD P. NAZARETH
Gerald Paul Nazareth, CBE, GBS was a senior judge in Hong Kong and Bermuda. Gerald
Nazareth was born in Kenya on the 27th of January, 1932. He was educated at the
Catholic Parochial School in Nairobi and St. Xavier’s College and Government
Law College in Mumbai. Nazareth joined the Kenyan Public Service in 1954, as a
prosecutor. He rose to the position of Senior Counsel. Nazareth was called to
the English Bar at Lincoln’s Inn in 1962 and moved to the British Solomon
Islands in 1963 to take up the appointment of Assistant Attorney-General. He
subsequently became the Solicitor General and then Attorney-General to the
British Western Pacific High Commission. Nazareth also became a member of the
island's Legislative and Executive Councils and was Deputy Governor for a short
time. In 1976, he was transferred to Hong Kong and joined the Hong Kong Legal
Department as Assistant Principal Crown Counsel. In 1977, he was promoted to
Principal Crown Counsel. Nazareth served as Law Officer between 1979 and 1985.
He was appointed Queen's Counsel in 1981. He served as a judge in Hong Kong
from 1985. He retired to London in 2000, however, he continued to be a
nonpermanent Judge of the Court of Final Appeal in Hong Kong and Bermuda as he
had been since 1997, until 2012.
[Gerald Nazareth passed away
peacefully in on the 13th of August 2018, aged 86. He is survived by his wife Elba
and daughters Melanie, Valerie and Deborah.]
Judicial career Gerald Nazareth
was appointed a Judge of the High Court in Hong Kong in 1985. He became a
Justice of Appeal on the Court of Appeal in 1991. Nazareth helped draft the
Sino-British Joint Declaration and played a key part in arranging the swearing-in
of judges within hours of the handover of Hong Kong in 1997. He was one of the
non-permanent judges of the Court of Final Appeal in Hong Kong from 1997 to
2012.
Honours
For his dedicated and distinguished
service to the Crown and the British Overseas Civil Service, Mr Justice
Nazareth was presented with the OBE in 1975 and the CBE in 1985. In 2000, he
received the Gold Bauhinia Star honour for serving the Hong Kong judiciary for
more than 24 years in excellence.
ROSENDO ABREO
Came to Nairobi in 1928 and spent
his entire career in the Prison Service from which he retired in 1961. After
that, he was a visiting Justice to penal institutions within Nairobi. In 1972
he published a “Historical Review of the Kenya Prison Service.” He took great
interest in Goan affairs. He was a Treasurer of the GI Nairobi and President of
the Goan Gymkhana 1961/62. He also held office in the Goan Overseas Association,
the Kenya Goan Sports Association and the Dr Ribeiro Goan School, Nairobi. He was
a keen tenis player.
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