By 
This is a brief tribute and a statement of appreciation about the life and positive impact of Tito Titus Mboweni, my close friend and comrade of 41 years from 1983 until his recent passing.
We first met when I was his lecturer in political and administrative studies at the National University of Lesotho (NUL). He and I began to engage closely when he took my course titled “The Political Economy of Southern Africa” in 1984/1985, which he passed well. In September 1985, after his graduation, he asked me to write him a letter of reference for postgraduate studies in England.
This was in the context of the intensification of liberation politics in SA and Southern Africa in the mid-1980s, which profoundly shaped the outlook of NUL academic staff and students. This is the context in which NUL students were engaged in solidarity activities in support of liberation struggles in Southern Africa.
My letter was addressed to Mohamed Tickley, who managed the ANC education and scholarships programme in Dar-es-Salam, Tanzania. In this positive letter, I commended Mboweni for his academic brilliance, seriousness of purpose, leadership qualities and commitment to the ANC’s liberation struggle.
He obtained the ANC scholarship and studied development economics at the University of East Anglia in England from 1986to 1988. We kept in touch from then onwards.
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