Ally Sykes

Ally Kleist Sykes was born on September 10, 1926, in Dar es Salaam. Like his elder brother Abdulwahid, he served in the King's African Rifles in Nairobi and Ceylon during World War II, developing an abiding passion for big band jazz and playing trumpet and bass.

Returning to Tanganyika, Sykes formed the Coast Social Orchestra and joined the TAA, serving as secretary of the party. On July 7, 1954, he was one of the seventeen founding signatories who established TANU at the historic conference in Dar es Salaam. Following independence, he built successful aviation and safari enterprises, and served as Ambassador to Canada and Zimbabwe, remaining an icon of Tanganyika's independence generation.