Merali Jivraj

THE MERALI FAMILY

The Merali Jivraj Family has been one of legends. One that only you get to see in the fairy tale entrepreneur books. They had it all, they lost it all and they gained it all on their own. The family’s life biography is an inspiration to the term often used by them “I walked a Dream with Frustration and I walked Frustration with a Dream." Their lives are full of colors. The bright and dark colors of life.

A humble trader from India in the year 1910 dared to venture into the dark jungles of Africa. His name was Merali Jivraj, son of Jivraj Hamirani. This name was to later to grow into one of the most powerful names in the Ugandan mining history. He used his intelligence, kind heart and vision for the future to shape the destiny of his children into one of the most prominent families. He died at a young age of 44 leaving his beautiful wife and 7 children. However it was his children that carried his name forward into time. His four boys, Sadru, Nooru, Taju and Juju. However during the economic turmoil in Uganda, the Merali family split up into different camps. One in the United Kingdom, and the other still in present day Uganda. During this turn around of events under the Idi-Amin regime, the Merali family lost its fortune and glory. Mining was the essence of the Merali family, their mining operations earned the family endless fortunes. At one time it was reported, their Mines were bringing out Barrilium and tin at an exciting rate of 25tonnes a day. They were based in western Uganda in a rural area called Kikagati. During this mining boom in Uganda, the Merali family were grossing very large sums of capital during the 60's. They reached the pinnacle of their operations in 1965, with the inclusion of 3 other mines in Luwanza and Kibira in Western Uganda close to the Tanzania-Uganda border. That was the golden age for the family, referred to as the "KINGS OF BARREL" by the British Mineral Corporation. The family was estimated to be very wealthy in the mid sixties. They were called one of the big M's of the country. The Merali family lived together and strongly believed in the principals of oneness and family-hood. Apart from their powerful mining operations they were strongly involved in Produce buying and Agriculture. This was started by the Late Merali himself. The wealth accumulated was very immense. The brothers worked in unity and unison. This led to their development in financial and social ways. They donned the city of Mbarara in the sixties. Mercedes Benzes and expensive American cars were never a rare sight amongst a Merali. The Merali family always stayed out of the lime-light and helped where it was necessary.Quietly. They never backed a political party or a politician. This was always their motto. "Regimes come and go....Businessmen always remain..." However later in 1972, this philosophy would be their un-doing. The country was taken over by a dictator president, Idi-Amin. He chased out all Asians from the country. Not even the millions of the Merali's could save them from continuing life normally. However Tajdin Merali, the 3rd brother of the 4 had strong military connections. He always believed in spending money on important people. You never know when they may come to your aide. The military gave the Merali family strong protection against the problematic regime until they were evacuated out of the country to the United Kingdom. However Tajdin Merali and Zulfikar Merali remained in Uganda to wind up operations. They managed to wind up their investments in the country and credited their closing account to the International Credit Bank. However ill fortune loomed over them and the International Credit Bank collapsed in the 1980's. The Merali's faced great losses and the family began breaking up into camps. One in the UK, and the other in Uganda. The bank never compensated them. Investments were made in the UK which the elder brother Sadhrudin Merali took over and the remaining investments in Uganda were taken over by Tajdin Merali and Zulfikar Merali. The glory of the Merali family was lost, it is still lost today. The Merali’s still choose to live low profile. They went one step ahead and changed their family name from Merali to Jivraj. The name of Merali’s father. They believe it is a new beginning. A humble beginning. They feel the pompous Merali name can only be used when they are worthy of being called it again. Their investments in Uganda are no longer as strong as they used to be, nonetheless they are well diversified into the Electronics & I.T sector, construction and property developments. Their exact investments to date are not very clear however a great decline in their once strong hold in Uganda is known. However the other half of the family in the United Kingdom has diversified into Property, tourism and the health sector. They lived a legacy in Mbarara, until today a Merali is known once he passes the streets of Mbarara. However their low profile life style and failure to conjure the family’s past glory has quickly made them disappear off the minds and memories of the new generation. The title which they once enjoyed “ The Kings of Barrel” is no longer a reality. No successful Mining operations after the Merali family have taken place in the Western region of Uganda. The new generation of the Merali’s prefer to call themselves Jivraj. They have walked away from the glory the family once shared. They are individual businessmen around the globe. However a few still remain in Uganda and hope that one day their time will return.