Mkapa: A story of three generations

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As I was pondering what to write following the former head of state’s sudden death, I realised that I was seeing Mkapa vis-à-vis three generations of my paternal side from my grandfather, my father to myself

As we were working on his farm, we noticed that some plants had become brownish in colour. He asked me, “What’s wrong with this plant?” and my response was something like, “We need to conduct soil analysis to know.” Not surprisingly, grandpa fired back, “We’ve taken you to school, and yet you don’t know what’s wrong here? Where will you get a lab here to do your test?” Much as he wanted a solution – which he had anyway – he was highlighting challenges farmers faced that needed to be addressed through extension services. Anyway, that’s a story for another day, but I can assure you it is not the reason I took refuge in journalism after abandoning agriculture about two decades ago. That was “Mkapa”. If you wanted to engage him, you had better be well prepared. He hated generalisations.

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Mkapa: A story of three generations

What you need to know:

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