An ode to Benjamin William Mkapa

My day, literally, started with a text from my daughter - “President Mkapa has passed” (away). My immediate reaction was: “so sad.”

I had known President Mkapa for more than two decades. One of my most pleasant memories is celebrating the twentieth anniversary of my relationship with Tanzania, and him. Some thirty friends from the US and hundreds of friends from Tanzania gathered in Dar es Salaam a couple of years ago for the occasion.

It was not only another opportunity to celebrate our relationship but was one of those rare moments where friends get to talk about the value of their friendship in a life affirming way.  It was an occasion on which we both, figuratively, tossed bouquets of flowers to each other so that we could smell them while we were still alive.  I met President Mkapa within days after my arrival in 1998 as the US envoy to Tanzania. Newly-minted ambassadors would usually have to wait longer than that to present their credentials but I assumed my post in the immediate aftermath of the bombing of the US embassy by al Qaeda.

He appreciated the gravity of situation and urgency of the moment, so the usual protocols were set aside. I would benefit from that pragmatic and practical wisdom many more times during my time in Tanzania, as well as after my tenure as ambassador and after his terms as President ended.

There are a number of things that come to mind as I reflect on the man and his meaning for his times. One: the country of Tanzania and the continent of Africa had no more faithful son that Ben Mkapa. Secondly: while President Magufuli, rightly, gets to lay the cornerstone for Tanzania’s recent designation as a middle-income country because of his stewardship of the country and the economy, Mkapa gets to take some credit too. Critical pieces of the foundation built on by Kikwete and Magufuli were laid during his time in office.  Expanded exploration of Tanzania’s mineral resources started under Mkapa. I worked with him and his government to enable Tanzania to become the first African country to qualify for debt relief under HIPCs (Heavily-Indebted Poor Countries). It was during the Mkapa years that Tanzania became the first African country to sign an Open Skies Treaty with the United States.

The Tanzania Investment Center was established on his watch to make it easier for foreign investors to do business in Tanzania. I’m saddened he passed, but I’m glad (and grateful) he was alive to hear the news about Tanzania’s newly achieved status as a middle income country.  Thirdly, the esteemed place that Tanzania holds in the US took root during the Mkapa years. Several years ago, after Obama’s visit to Tanzania, I commented that aside from South Africa, no other African country could boast that they received visits from Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama. The foundation of that kind of US-Tanzania bilateral relationship started with Benjamin William Mkapa.

After I left Tanzania, I joined the faculty at Boston University. I started a center, The African Presidential Archives and Research Centre. The idea for the Center was incubated in a conversation with President Mkapa. He was helpful from the beginning as he “blessed” it in communications to African leaders across the continent. He was a sounding board and presence over the years, which helped cement the Centre’s success, until I retired from BU five years ago.

Over the years, whenever I returned he made me feel as if I were a son of Tanzania coming back to a welcoming home. I will miss seeing him and, as much, our conversations. As I contemplated that thought, it occurred to me that had I not been in lockdown in Johannesburg since mid-February. I would most definitely had seen him between then and now. But, because of the corona-crisis I didn’t get to see him one last time and I’ll not get to bid him a final farewell. 

Despite that, I find comfort in this thought, the prophet Jeremiah reminds us that “When you trust in God, you are like a tree planted by water that sends out its roots toward the stream. You will not fear times of heat and drought, nor will you cease to bear fruit.”

Ben Mkapa was like a tree planted by the water; he didn’t fear those times of heat or drought. Like a tree planted by the water, though, he has died, his memory and legacy live on, and his good works - his many good works - will continue to bear fruit.