Kikwete says he is proud of Samia as Head of State

Mr Kikwete, who was then the Foreign Affairs minister, said he was picked by CCM's National Executive Committee (NEC) to lead the team.

The team included, among others, Dr Ali Mohamed Shein, then a minister of State (Union Matters), Adam Mwakanjuki and Mama Samia.

"We were tasked to go around the world to tell what exactly happened in Pemba,” he told the local journalists here on Tuesday.

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Mr Kikwete, who had attended a conference on the State of Democracy in Africa, was asked on his take on the sixth phase government.

"Yes, I am really proud of Samia as our president. I saw her potential in leadership way back in 2001,” he said at Grand Melia Arusha. Mr Kikwete, the Union President from 2005 to 2015, said Mama Samia exhibited her preferred approach in tackling such crises.

The Pemba clashes resulted in the killings of at least 27 people, putting a dent on the administration of President Benjamin Mkapa.

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The chaos followed the contested presidential election results in the Isles between CCM's Amani Abeid Karume and Seif Shariff Hamad, CUF flag bearer then.

Mr Kikwete said this was his first formal encounter with Mama Samia who would later become the sixth President of the Union Government.

"She was not a frontliner. She was cool but with a great potential. This enabled her to have the nitty-gritty of the crisis,” he pointed out.

Upon election as the fourth phase president, Kikwete appointed her the minister of State in the Vice President's Office.

At the end of his tenure in 2015, Mr Kikwete admitted that he influenced the late CCM presidential aspirant John Pombe Magufuli to take Mama Samia as his running mate.

She would later become the first female Vice President in Tanzania and later the first ever female president in Tanzania and East Africa.

As the conference on democracy came to an end in Arusha yesterday (Wednesday), Samia Suluhu Hassan remains the sitting executive president in Africa.

Mr Kikwete was also asked why some sitting presidents particularly in Africa were not in good terms with their successors.

"A new president has his or her own agenda. You don't follow on the predecessor,” he responded, saying this should not necessarily lead to a tiff.

Ernest Koroma, the former President of Sierra Leone said no two leaders will be the same "even if they are from one political party".

He added that what was important is that the purported different leadership strategies by such leaders should not compromise the state institutions.

Former Mozambican president Joachim Chissano challenged the African leaders to engage the retired leaders, especially in conflict resolutions.

He said as long as there were leadership changes in tandem with democratic requirements "we will continue to have elders in Africa".

 Mr. Chissano, the first recipient of Mo Ibrahim Prize for retired executive leaders in Africa, said the retired leaders have a responsibility to groom the young ones.

"We should groom young men and women to take up the leadership positions because were were groomed when we were young people", he said.

Former Ethiopian prime minister Hailemariam Desalegn said the eminent leaders in Africa should often time be consulted in time of crisis.

"They have a huge potential that has not been fully taped.Our people are poor and do not have jobs. We should always engage them,” he said.