Kimodoi: A Tanzanian truck driver in USA who pays charities back home to support the community

Justin Kimodoi, born in Bukoba, Kagera Region, Northwestern Tanzania, but now living in the USA, has been struggling to bring charity home to the community that raised him.

Bukoba town (Bukoba municipal council), with a population of about 150,000 people, where women are just over half, is situated on the shores of Lake Victoria. It is in this lakeside community where Kimodoi was born. It is the capital of Kagera region and the administrative seat for Bukoba Urban District.

Kimodoi, a truck driver in Texas, initiated the Royal Palm Tree project in Bukoba municipality which was inaugurated by Tanzania Vice President, Phillip Mpango in March 2022. Mpango planted a royal palm seedling and since then thousands of royal palm tree seedlings have been planted in various streets of the town with the aim of beautifying the town and conserving the environment. The whole project was estimated to cost Tsh680,800,000 (US$280,000).

Kimodoi, a father of two, was inspired by beautiful sites of royal palm trees that line up streets in Texas to give Bukoba a similarly graceful leafy look. His journey has been epic.

Searching  for green pastures  in South

He left Bukoba for the commercial capital, Dar es Salaam after secondary school. His parents were unable to pay for his higher education. He, however, found life in the big city cumbersome without a job. He plotted to 'stowaway' to South Africa.

In South Africa, he did odd jobs here and there, known as 'mission town' buying in South Africa and selling in Zambia devices such as phones, television sets, and laptops, which earned him a good sum of money. He lured four friends from Bukoba to join him searching for 'good pastures'.

He saved money to buy two lorries, one to transport apples from South Africa to Dar es Salaam, and the other was sent back home to help his mother generate income and help the neighbors when in need.

He later returned home and started an animal husbandry project, but it failed, and again decided to leave.

The truck driver star shines in the USA

He got a visa to the USA and settled in New York before he shifted to Texas and secured a job at a company where he trained as a professional driver.

"I didn't get challenges to find a job because  I am a good English speaker, from the experience I got from South Africa, and you know American English tone sounds like our language in Tanzania", he said.

Kimodoi worked hard and formed his own delivery company. He bought a heavy truck which he drove. He says he travels long journeys to meet trade orders of goods. He also acquired two box-body trucks to grow his fleet and operate interstate routes. But Kimodoi adds that he was let down by drivers he employed and whom he later fired. He now drives to California, New Mexico, and Georgia.

He works closely with brokers and dispatchers, and he delivers goods to malls and private shops. Kimodoi was so impressed with the weather in Texas, where places were adorned with royal palm trees. The weather was similar to that in Bukoba.

That he was inspired to have a Palm trees Project back home.

The royal palm project n Bukoba has three phases between March 2022 to March 2025 to plant 80,000 palm seedlings with a road coverage of 200 kilometers. In phase one which ended in March 2023, according to Project Coordinator in Tanzania, Thabit Kalwani, 4,000 palm seedlings were planted.

Aseri Katanga, a Tanzania living in the UK, has supported the palm project with technology that decomposes organic waste and converts it into animal feed and fertilizer (FRASS).

Kimodoi sends home money to charities to support the palm tree project. He has, however, had running battles with local politicians in Bukoba, who accuse him of trying to create a power base ahead of the next election. The politicians have several times prevented the implementation of this palm tree and other community projects that he supports.

"Some politicians are not happy with what I am doing, and have been trying to block me not to reach my goal", he said adding that he is thankful for the many who stand with him and give him the courage to do more for the community.

Cyber warrior

His critics appreciate his contribution to Bukoba municipality development, but they say that he is a cyber warrior, who assails local leaders every day on social media for poor service delivery.

The lessons he has learned in the USA

According to Kimodoi, people in the USA are very hardworking and their systems are designed in such a way that when one works hard, one can make a lot of money.  

“There are many Tanzanian, Ugandan, and Kenyan traders and professionals in the US but where Kenyans and Ugandans beat us is that their countries accepted dual citizenship, while Tanzania has not yet,’’ he said.

Kenya's diaspora remittances rose by 8.34 percent to $4.027 billion in 2022, closing in on exports which brought in $5.77 billion worth of foreign currency in the same period. Ugandans working abroad sent home a total of $1.1 billion, according to reliable business sources. Because the Tanzania government has rejected dual citizenship, its nationals abroad often send money home through improper ways and investments through other people’s names where they often get cheated. But even with these challenges, the Tanzania diaspora sent home $1.1 bn in 2022.

According to the Kenya Constitution  2010, and Kenya Citizenship  Immigration  Act 2011, Dual Citizenship is accepted in Kenya, and Uganda Citizenship and Immigration Control (Amendments) Act 2009  provided Dual Citizenship while Tanzania is still adamant.

Former foreign minister, Benard Kamillius Membe, who served in the Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete’s administration was the biggest advocate of dual citizenship. He died last May.

Current foreign minister Dr Stergomena Tax recently told Parliament that the Government would grant ‘special status 'to Tanzania diaspora instead of dual citizenship, which has been described as a threat to national unity and sovereignty. The ‘special status’ from December 2023 will allow the diaspora to access financial services, land, and entry into the country.

What are his future plans for his community?

With cooperation from Kagera Regional and Bukoba municipal Council authorities, is working on the construction of a big hall with facilities to enable families to enjoy life.

That is Justin Kimodoi, a little-known heavy truck driver on Texas, making a difference on a lakeside town of Bukoba in Tanzania.