By Spy Uganda
Ugandan businessman and Ruparelia Group Chairman Dr Sudhir Ruparelia over the weekend pledged to continue supporting the Pan African Pyramid Global Awards and offered Speke Resort Munyonyo as the permanent Ugandan home of the annual event.
Sudhir made the commitment during the Pan African Pyramid Global Awards ceremony held at Speke Resort Munyonyo on Saturday, where his late son, Rajiv Ruparelia, was honoured posthumously for his humanitarian legacy and contribution to society.
Organised by Pan African Pyramid (PAP), the ceremony was held under the theme “Honoring the Humanitarian Legacy of Rajiv Ruparelia” and brought together Pan-Africanists, business leaders, politicians, humanitarians and other distinguished guests from Uganda and beyond.
Speaking briefly after receiving the award on behalf of his late son, Sudhir said he would continue supporting the initiative and hosting the awards at his Munyonyo-based resort.
“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 pledge means Speke Resort Munyonyo, owned by the Ruparelia Group, will serve as the permanent Ugandan venue for the annual Pan African Pyramid Global Awards.
PAP founder and Pan-African journalist Irumba said Saturday’s ceremony was sponsored by Sudhir, describing his support as an important contribution towards building a platform that brings Africans and people of African descent together around the ideals of unity, humanity and development.
Rajiv’s Humanitarian Legacy Celebrated
The decision to honour Rajiv came more than a year after his death in a road crash that shocked Uganda’s business, sports and humanitarian communities.
Rajiv, who was 35, died on May 3, 2025, after the Nissan GT-R he was driving struck temporary pavement barriers at the Busabala Flyover, overturned and caught fire. He died at the scene.
At the time of his death, Rajiv was Managing Director of the Ruparelia Group and actively involved in the family’s business interests. Beyond business, he had also established himself in motorsport and humanitarian activities, earning recognition for his engagement with different communities and charitable causes.
However, Irumba said Rajiv’s greatest legacy should not be measured solely by his business achievements, but by the impact he had on the lives of other people.
“The measure of a life is not how long one lives, but how deeply one impacts humanity,” Irumba told the gathering.
He drew comparisons between Rajiv’s relatively short life and those of other influential figures who also died young, including Martin Luther King Jr., Thomas Sankara, Patrice Lumumba, Steve Biko, Amílcar Cabral and Che Guevara.
According to Irumba, their lives demonstrate that longevity alone does not determine the significance of a person’s contribution to 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 interaction with Rajiv while developing his Pan-African initiative, describing the late businessman as one of the first people to show practical interest in his ideas.
He said that when he approached Rajiv, the young businessman responded with a simple but significant question: “How much support is needed?”
For Irumba, the response demonstrated Rajiv’s willingness to move beyond words and turn ideas into practical action, particularly initiatives aimed at improving the lives of others.
He challenged guests at the ceremony to similarly reflect on the impact they are making in their communities and to ask themselves how many people are better off because they exist.
“It is not simply the purity of struggle. It is the people whose lives become better because we exist,” he said.
The tribute to Rajiv was therefore presented not simply as a moment of mourning, but as a celebration of a life and legacy that Irumba said continue to resonate with the ideals of Pan-Africanism.
Beyond celebrating Rajiv’s legacy, Irumba used the occasion to call for a more practical form of Pan-Africanism capable of delivering tangible benefits to ordinary Africans.
He argued that Pan-Africanism should move beyond rhetoric and translate into 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 natural resources.
“The African border should be an administrative line, not a psychological wall,” he said.
Irumba said Africa’s future depended on Africans working together to build stronger economies, expand opportunities and ensure that the continent’s resources generate greater value for its people.
International Guests Attend Awards
The Pan African Pyramid Global Awards attracted guests from Uganda, South Africa, Ghana, Kenya, Jamaica, Zimbabwe and the United States.
Among those in attendance were former South African Member of Parliament Hon. Dr. Khanyisile Litchfield Tshabalala, Ghanaian businessman and humanitarian Clinton Arko Agyemang, United States-based Pan-Africanist Ayo Kimath, and a Jamaican delegation led by Ms. Blossom Thomas.
The event also brought together a number of Ugandan dignitaries, business leaders, cultural figures and humanitarian actors, reinforcing its growing profile as a platform for celebrating African excellence, humanitarian service and Pan-African ideals.
