The family of kidnapped Tanzanian dollar billionaire Mohammed Dewji says it will give a reward of a billion Tanzanian shillings (UShs1.6 billion) for information leading to his rescue.
Speaking for the first time since he was abducted at gun point four days ago in the commercial capital, Dar es Salaam, the 43-year-old’s uncle, Azim Dewji, told a packed press conference that the family believes the reward will help the police investigation.
“We [the Dewji family] want to assure anyone with the information about the whereabouts of our son to come forward and we will treat their information as secret,” he added.
Mr Dewji, described by Forbes magazine as Africa’s youngest and Tanzania’s only billionaire, was kidnapped early on Thursday by four masked men outside a swanky hotel gym in the affluent Oysterbay neighbourhood, where he was going for his routine morning workout.
Police have arrested 30 people in connection with the incident and it is believed that the abduction was led by two white men.
Forbes estimates that Mr Dewji, locally known as Mo, is worth $1.5bn.
He is the CEO of MeTL, a family empire started by his father in the 1970s.
The kidnapped Mr Dewji is credited with turning it from a wholesale and retail enterprise into a multi-billion dollar pan-African conglomerate.
Authorities are yet to establish the motive for the kidnapping.
-BBC
