A woman from Tanzania, Elena Rajab Mwinge, hopes that President Klaus Iohannis’ visit to her country will help her fulfill her dream of meeting her mother, a Romanian citizen, reports The Citizen, reported by News.ro.

She claims that she was secretly taken to Tanzania by her father, who was studying medicine in Romania, and that she has managed to find the woman she believes to be her mother, but that she cannot afford to travel to Romania to see her. .

He wants President Yohannis’ help to meet his mother

Citizens of Tanzania are very hopeful that the four-day visit of Romanian President Klaus Iohannis will bring significant benefits to both countries, strengthening bilateral cooperation in several areas, writes the Tanzanian publication The Citizen.

But for Kibibi, also known as Elena Rajab Mwinge, 43, a local resident of Keko Akida, Mivigyeni District, Temeke District, the visit has a different meaning.

Kibibi, a wife and mother of four, sees President Iohannis’ visit to Tanzania as an opportunity to meet her mother, a Romanian citizen.

The touching story of Kibibi

Kibibi was born in Bucharest, Romania on January 10, 1980 to a Romanian mother and Tanzanian Rajab Mwinge.

But Mwinge, who studied medicine in Romania, returned home in 1981 with Kibibi without his mother’s knowledge.

Kibibi told The Citizen that she lived with the desire to meet her biological mother, but her dream turned into a nightmare because she could not afford the travel expenses to Romania.

She was raised by her stepmother, while her father worked as a medical staff at the Organization of Tanzania Trade Unions (OTTU) and private hospitals, but died in 2015.

She said that when she was in the sixth grade, neighbors told her that the woman raising her was not her biological mother and that she was a white woman.

Kibibi said his aunt Salma Mwinge later told him she was from Romania, where her father studied, but told him his mother had died. Kibibi added that he confronted his father in 2014.

“My father confirmed to me that my mother is a Romanian citizen named Dorina Ilnescu,” he said. Kibibi said that she tried to find the Romanian embassy, ​​but the closest one was in Kenya, where she could not get through.

“Your father lied to me and stole you when he came back to Tanzania”

Later, in December 2020, she said, she started looking for her mother on social networks.

“I typed the name given by my father (Dorina Ilnesko). Fortunately, I found the woman I thought I was looking for (…) I sent a message saying, “Where are you mom, I miss you?”.

Instead of getting the response I expected, another woman, Gina Soana, sent me a friend request,” Kibibi said. She added that she realized the woman was her sister-in-law, his brother’s wife, who was looking for a relative whose mother whose name was Doreen Soana and who lived in Tanzania.

Kibibi said her sister-in-law later confirmed that she was wanted and that her mother was alive.

At one point, Kibibi said, she saw her mother on a Facebook video call. “Your father lied to me and stole you when he came back to Tanzania,” Kibibi said.

“My mother insists that I visit her in Romania. Now she is old, but my financial capabilities do not allow me to go to meet my beloved mother,” she added.

The woman admitted that she was worried because she had not spoken to her mother for several months, but relatives in Romania assured her that everything was fine.

Kibibi wants President Johannis and his delegation to fulfill his dream of meeting his mother.

Kibibi’s aunt claimed that her brother told her that he decided to secretly flee Romania with the girl so that her mother would not lose her job for having a child with an African man, pointing out that there were restrictions in Romania at the time.

Later, he allegedly lost contact with the girl’s mother. Kibibi’s husband says the family’s hopes remain for a visit by President Yohannis, adding that Kibibi will probably meet his mother eventually.

Kibibi’s story made the front page of a Tanzanian newspaper: