Dr Ameesh Mehta is a third-generation Zanzibari, born and raised on the island. For ten years, the qualified physician called Houston, Texas, home.
He relocated to the country to pursue a master’s degree. After completing his master’s degree, he enrolled in additional degree programs and remained in the US.
He returned to Zanzibar in 2011 for what was meant to be a brief stay to attend to his ailing mother. But a man of his skills as a medical doctor was in high demand.
He was later invited to the State House of Zanzibar, where he was greeted by Ambassador Mohamed Ramia Abdiwawa, who was the foreign affairs adviser to then-President Dr Ali Mohamed Shein.
The message to him was clear. The government didn’t want him to go back to America; they urged him to stay, his service was needed in his motherland. Dr. Mehta’s family legacy on the island dates back to 1922, when his grandfather came to the island from India during British rule.
