Returning from saying Mass in Mwanza Tanzania on 3rd. June 2021, the car he was in came off the road somersaulted and hit a billboard. Fr. Mapunda was killed. Mapunda was 61 years old and a Tanzanian. He had been a Missionary of Africa for 30 years in Zambia, Ghana, Kenya and Tanzania. May he rest in peace.
From Fr. Hugh Seenan MAfr. “Baptist Mapunda first came to Glasgow in 1989 with a large group of students from St Edward's College for the Ordination to the Priesthood of Fr Hugh Seenan MAfr on the 24th June of that year in Our Lady and St. George's Parish, Penilee.
Fr Baptist was the leader of the ones who sang some African hymns at the Ordination and the First Mass of Fr Hugh the following day. They made a great impression and a few of them became friends of families in the parish. They found people from Glasgow very friendly.
Fr Baptist was a regular visitor to the parish during his time as a student and on some visits to Britain after his ordination. When I would come on home leave from Mozambique people would always ask how Fr. Baptist was and would be happy to hear that I had met him on a journey. In the parish, they still sing the Alleluia that he taught them at mass on that first visit. May he Rest in Peace.”