Journalist, author and publisher
City: Calgary. Country of Origin: Tanzania
Mansoor Ladha is a Calgary-based journalist, travel writer and author of Memoirs of a Muhindi: Fleeing East Africa for the West and Portrait in Pluralism: Aga Khan’s Shia Ismaili Muslims. He has held senior editorial positions with daily newspapers in Canada, Kenya and Tanzania and was the only ethnoracial publisher of two weekly mainstream newspapers in suburban communities in Alberta.
Born in Zanzibar, Tanzania, Ladha moved to the country’s capital Dar es Salaam where he worked as a journalist with the country’s daily newspaper. When he was told he would have to belong to the ruling political party in the one-party state to keep his job, he moved to Nairobi, Kenya. He found work again at a daily, but he would soon move again, this time across the ocean to Canada. He landed in Toronto at 29 years old, hoping to continue his work as a journalist in Canada. After about three months of not being employed, he was recruited by the Edmonton Journal. He then bought a weekly newspaper, Morinville Mirror, and established another one, Redwater Tribune, both within commuting suburban areas of Edmonton.He owned the newspapers for more than 25 years before selling them in 2005 and moving to Calgary.
Ladha has served on several volunteer bodies including the Calgary Arts Development, Edmonton Capital Health Board, Canadian Red Cross Northern Council, Alberta Press Council, Alberta Cultural Heritage Council, Morinville Chamber of Commerce and was chairman of the Edmonton Aga Khan Shia Muslim Community.
He was awarded Morinville Citizen of the Year, Silver Quill Award of the Alberta Newspapers Association for distinguished service to newspapers and the Governor General’s Caring Canadian Award by the Governor General of Canada in recognition of outstanding and selfless contribution to the community and to Canada.
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