Dr. Sudhir Ruparelia has pledged to keep Rajiv Ruparelia humanitarian legacy alive.
He made the commitment as he received the Pan-African Pyramid Humanitarian Award 2026 on behalf of Rajiv during the ninth edition of the awards held at Speke Resort Munyonyo.
In his humble remarks after receiving the award, Sudhir promised to continue supporting the initiative and make his Speke Resort in Munyonyo its permanent home.
“I’m a man of few words. I will continue supporting and hosting these awards every year. We want to make this a home for the Pan-African Pyramids in Uganda. Thank you so much,” he said.
The Pan African ceremony was held under the theme “Honoring the Humanitarian Legacy of Rajiv Ruparelia” brought together Pan-Africanists, business leaders, politicians and humanitarians attracted guests from Uganda, South Africa, Ghana, Kenya, Jamaica, Zimbabwe and the United States, including South Africa’s former Member of Parliament Hon. Dr. Khanyisile Litchfield Tshabalala, Ghanaian businessman and humanitarian Clinton Arko Agyemang, United States-based Pan-Africanist Ayo Kimath, a Jamaican delegation led by Ms. Blossom Thomas, among a number of Ugandan dignitaries.
Andrew Irumba, the founder of the awards, described Sudhir support as part of the effort to build a platform that brings Africans and people of African descent together around the ideals of unity, humanity and development.
Irumba said Rajiv’s importance went beyond his business achievements, arguing that the true measure of his life was the impact he made on other people.
“The measure of a life is not how long one lives, but how deeply one impacts humanity,” Irumba told the gathering.
He compared Rajiv’s relatively short life with those of influential figures who also died young, including Martin Luther King Jr, Thomas Sankara, Patrice Lumumba, Steve Biko, Amilcar Cabral and Che Guevara.
According to Irumba, their examples show that a person doesn’t need to live for decades to leave a lasting mark on humanity.
“This teaches us something extraordinary, that longevity is not merely a measure with the number of years we spend on Earth. It is measured by the number of lives we touch, the ideas we plant, and the humanity we leave behind,” he said.
Irumba also recalled his personal encounter with Rajiv while developing his Pan-African initiative, saying the late businessman was among the first people to show practical interest in his ideas.
He said when he approached Rajiv, the business mogul’s son asked him a simple but significant question, of “how much support was needed?”
That response, for the Pan-African journalist demonstrated Rajiv’s willingness to turn ideas into action and support initiatives intended to benefit others.
Irumba called for stronger economic integration, greater movement of people and ideas, increased intra-African trade and investment, and the development of African industries capable of adding value to the continent’s minerals and other resources.
“The African border should be an administrative line, not a psychological wall,” he said.
According to Irumba the decision to honour Rajiv came more than a year after his death in a road crash that shocked the country’s business, sports and humanitarian communities.
Rajiv served as Managing Director of the Ruparelia Group and was involved in the family’s business interests, while also building a reputation in motorsport and humanitarian activities.
