Veteran Broadcaster, Charles Hillary, who once worked for the British Broadcasting Corporation and the Deutsche Welle as news presenter, was pronounced dead in the early morning of May 11, 2025.
The former BBC and DW presenter, who until his death, was serving as the Head of Media and Communications Directorate at the State House of Zanzibar, reportedly passed away while being rushed to hospital after falling ill.
The Zanzibar Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) announced Charles Hillary’s death on Sunday morning.
Born Charles Martin Hillary Nkwanga in Jang’ombe ward of Zanzibar 66 years ago, he moved with his family to Dar-es-salaam when he was only three and lived in the city since then.
He attended Ilala Mchikichini Primary School and in 1981 joined the sole and state-owned radio station, the Radio Tanzania Dar-es-salaam (RTD) as broadcaster for 13 years.
In 1994, a Dar-es-salaam businessman, Reginald Mengi started the first Television Station in Dar-es—salaam under the IPP Media an entity which also owned the country’s first Frequency Modulation (FM) Radio Station and he poached several broadcasters from Radio Tanzania.
Charles Martin Hillary was among the presenters who were picked from RTD to join the newly established Radio One Stereo in Dar-es-Salaam, then a very popular station appealing to young people who loved western pop music.
Nine years later, in 2003 Charles Hillary joined the Deutsche Welle (DW) Radio in Germany and three years later in 2006, he moved to the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) in London, working for the Swahili channel.
In 2015 Charles Hillary Nkwanga returned to Tanzania, joining Azam Media where he worked as the head of Uhai Radio station until 2023 when he was picked to work as the head of communications directorate at the State House of Zanzibar, his homeland.
He died in the early morning of May 11, 2025.