A long time ago when the Sukuma chief in Tanzania met
people at a meeting or at work, they would stand up and greet him. But if the
chief met them while they were eating, there was a taboo against standing up and
greeting the chief. If they should greet him he would forbid them and tell them:
"I don’t take care of your life. Ugali (Swahili for “stiff cooked maize meal”)
takes care of your life. It also takes care of my life. I am not your chief.
Food or ugali is your chief. It is not good to glorify the chief more than
food." So the Sukuma proverb When you arrived the chief had already gone (used
about a person who arrives at a house and finds that the people have already
eaten).