Invitation from President Banjamin Mkapa of Tanzania

Robert Tyabji

I first met President Benjamin Mkapa in November 1995 at his inauguration reception in Dar es Salaam. He had just won the country's second ever presidential election and had emerged triumphant from a turbulent election process. I had joined a group near the entrance of the outdoor venue in order to get a good photograph of the new president as he entered.

As it happened, he saw me, smiled and approached me with outstretched hand as if we were old friends! Clearly, he had mistaken me for someone else, but I didn't complain - and I'm sure that fleeting interaction did much to enhance my standing in the community!

I later learned that his wife Anna, Tanzania's First Lady, was the HR assistant in my UNICEF Dar office! Anna and I became friends over the seven years I worked there.