Mohamed Amin during the Bokassa Coronation ceremony.

Former French army sergeant Jean-Bedel Bokassa was not content with simply being president of his impoverished, semi-desert country. He decided to crown himself emperor. Despite being leader of one of the world’s poorest 25 countries, he determined upon a spectacularly lavish ceremony based on the imperial coronation of his hero, Napoleon, in 1804. The inventory for this bizarre spectacle, which cost a quarter of his country’s annual national revenue, was mind-boggling: 17 costumes worn at Napoleon’s coronation; a 32 pound robe for Bokassa containing 785,000 pearls, and a million crystal beads worth £75,000; a £32,000 gold and sequinned gown for his wife, Empress Catherine; and a diamond-topped crown, sceptre, and diadem for the empress costing £2.5 million. Two hundred and forty tons of champagne; wines and caviar; flowers and doves; a seven-tier cake; 60 Mercedes limousines; 30 Peugeot 504s; and 150 BMW motorcycles were all flown in at a cost of £1 million. All male guests were required to wear morning suits. The penalty for breaking the dress code was to have an ear cut off. It was a story Kenya's renowned photojournalist Mohamed Amin, could not miss.