Mamdani’s father, Prof Mahmood Mamdani, was one of the beneficiaries of the Tom Odhiambo Mboya airlift to America. When Mboya and the AASF decided to expand the airlift to include students from other East African countries, Mahmood Mamdani was one of the 23 Ugandan students who were offered opportunities to study in America. Mahmood Mamdani who attended Pittsburgh, was in the same group as Prof George Saitoti who went to Brandeis. Definitely it was because of the exposure and the opportunity Mbo