In 2000, I was working at a bank and my boss decided to host a cocktail party for all our clients at his house. We all invited our customers and I, being in the public sector team, invited my parastatal clients made up of their managing directors and finance heads.
The finance manager of Kenya Power and Lighting Company (or KPLC as it was known at the time) quietly stood at a corner, tightly gripping his drink and sampling every single biting presented to him on the heaving platters being circulated by the waiters. I went to say hello and found him introducing himself to a guest as “a finance officer in the government”.
