The police, together with the US FBI, have been very active in recent weeks in trying to find those responsible for the blowing up of the American embassy in Dar es Salaam. Two suspects, one with a Tanzanian/Congolese passport and the other a Tanzanian were arrested on September 21 accused of murdering 11 Tanzanians in the bombing on August 7 but were later released. Some 30 people have been arrested and then later released in this case.

On October 16 police released pictures of the vehicles used in the attack -a 1987 Nissan Atlas Refrigeration truck (thought to have carried the bomb) and a Suzuki Samurai 1989 used by the suspects.

Two further suspects, an Egyptian and a Zanzibari, were put on trial for murder in October at the Kisitu magistrates Court.

(Dar es Salaam University has been modernising Swahili for many years. Readers may wish to update their knowledge of the language and Ben Rawlence therefore has agreed to contribute to this process. His first article follows -Editor).

Mmasai alikuwa juu baada ya kuitwa buzi (a Masai became angry after being called a goat). So ran the headline in a local newspaper.
Mmasai mmoja aliwaacha abiria wenzake hoi kwa kucheka baada ya kuanzisha fujo kwenye daladala. Njiani katika Mbeya na Dodoma Mmasai mmoja alisimamisha basi na kuingia. Alikaa karibu na dada mmoja aliyekuwa amejichubua na mkorogo. Sauti ikatokea upande mwingine, “Sista, lea umepata buzi.” Kusikia hivyo, Mmasai alicharuka na kuanza kumpiga njemba yule huku akisema “Elo, hapana mimi utani na wewe, yaani ona mimi nakula majani?”

The position of the Masai may be similar to that of the visitor not schooled in current colloquial Swahili. The Masai became angry and began hitting his fellow passenger because he thought he had been called a goat (mbuzi). His response “Hello, no me joke with you, you see me I eat grass?” For urban Tanzanians this is the pinnacle of ushamba (backwardness); since for them buzi (lit. Billy goat) has taken on another meaning altogether. Buzi in fact means sugar daddy and this is what the njemba (bloke) was suggesting when he said “Sister today you’ve got a buzi”

It seems as though the proverb is true that: Jogoo la shamba haliwiki mjini (the cockerel from the country doesn’t crow in the town).

Swahili is changing faster than even Tanzanians can keep up with sometimes. Kisa wa Kisasa (a modern story) introduces a few words currently in use that you may not fmd in the Kamusi (dictionary):
kuja juu (to become angry); kuachwa hoi (to die …of laughing); daladala (minibus); kujichubua (to bleach oneself); mkorogo (bleaching mixture); kucharuka (to explode); mtasha (mzungu – white guy); kitu kidogo/chai (a bribe); wamachinga (street sellers).

The new Catholic University – the St Augustine University of Tanzania (SAUT) – was inaugurated on August 25. The university arises from the various institutions originally established at Nyegezi near Mwanza and will offer a bachelor’s degree course in mass communication, and will also offer diploma and certificate courses in journalism, accountancy, business management and hospital administration.

Photographer Muhidin Michuzi related in the Daily News of October 3 (when he was assigned to cover a three-day visit by Princess Anne to Tanzania to visit donor-supported projects) how he had not only been briefed by the High Commission’s Ian Gleeson to the effect that the Princess did not like to ‘be crowded’ but had also read that the Princess was ‘anti­press photographers’. But when he went to the President’s residence the President asked the Princess to come outside for a photo shoot. “These guys never seem to have enough” he joked. And instead of the customary posed line, popularly known as ‘the firing squad’ in media houses, the VIP’s stood in a way ‘which a film director would have cherished’. For five whole minutes the royal couple and their hosts stood facing the dull noon sun and admired and discussed the magnificent architectural structure of Ikulu. ‘I found myself putting the Princess Royal at the top of my list of favourite dignitaries, after Nelson Mandela, Mwalimu Nyerere, President Mkapa and ministers Jakaya Kikwete and Edward Lowassa’ all of whom show great concern for press photographers’ he wrote.

Minister of Local Government and Regional Administration Kingunge Ngombale-Mwiru has announced that he is moving the HQ of his ministry to the long-designated capital, Dodoma, in the near future -Daily Mail.

Minister for the Civil Service Jackson Makwetta was reported in the October 19 issue of the East African to have ordered all men in his ministry to be clean-shaven and to ‘look sharp’ from now on. Tanzanian men were said to have been infected by ‘Mandela fever’ and to be wearing flowery shirts. The paper recommends a competition to design a new national dress for Tanzania -entries to be judged by women as ‘everyone knows who wears the trousers in the house these days’ .

A new foundation -the Mkwawa Foundation -has been inaugurated. Its aim is to erect historical monuments in Iringa as part of the celebrations marking the death of Chief Mkwawa of the Hehe a century ago -Guardian.

There has been a serious leak of the November Form 4 ‘0’ level examination papers and the exams are to be repeated in January 1999. Two police officers will be assigned to each of the 750 secondary schools when the examinations are repeated. It is estimated that the financial loss might exceed $1.2 million. Education Minister Professor Kapuya, who was recalled from Paris when the crisis broke, has refused demands that he should resign -East African.

The Commonwealth Development Corporation (CDC) and other international agencies have launched the ‘Fedha Fund Ltd’, a new private equity fund capitalised at $13 million which has begun to make loans to Tanzanian companies wishing to expand or to have management buy-outs and buy-ins -Guardian.

The US Census Bureau believes that Tanzania’s population will reach about 40 million by 2010 but this is lower than was anticipated because of the AIDS epidemic affecting the country. Life expectancy is predicted to be 46.1 years in 20 10 compared with 60.7 years without the sharp rise in deaths due to AIDS -East African.

According to Michael Okema, writing in the East African, a new word is being used to describe government polices these days. In President Mwinyi’s time it was ‘ruksa’ (free for all); nowadays it is ‘ukapa’ -the shortage of money caused by the President’s stringent monetary policies.

Tanzania’s Joseph Marwa (34) a Prisons Inspector won the Africa professional middleweight boxing title in Dar es Salaam on August 9. He beat Lolengo ‘Saddam Hussein’ Mock from the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Prime Minister Frederick Sumaye expressed his anger on August 22 on hearing that 16 young Tanzanians in the Tanzanian delegation to the World Youth Festival in Lisbon had absconded and not returned to Tanzania with the others -they had besmirched the good image of the country he said. Portuguese police were hunting for them.

At the meeting of the Heads of all secondary schools in Tanzania, Ilboru Secondary School in Arusha was selected as the school with the best overall performance. Second came St Mary Mazinde (Tanga), third was Mzumbe (Morogoro), fourth was Kifungilo (Lushoto) and fifth Mzizima (Dar es Salaam).

The firm ‘Cargill’ announced on August l3 that it would not be operating its two cotton ginneries (built in 1993 and 1997) during the rest of the 1998 cotton season because, after seven weeks of the season, it had bought only 900 tons compared with 18,000 tons at the same time the year before. Flooding in December 1997 had reduced the acreage planted and the world price was said to be insufficient to support price expectations of farmers and the cost of full taxes and levies. Cargill hoped to resume operations in the 1999 season.

The Amani Nature Reserve in the Eastern Usambara mountains was officially launched on September 29 by President Mkapa. He was told that the reserve was one ofthe 25 top bio-diversity sites in the world. Some 25% of the 2,800 fauna species there could not be found anywhere else -Daily News.

The Dar es Salaam ‘Daily Mail’ has been giving considerable publicity to what it describes as the ‘grisly Shinyanga witch hunts’. Some 20 people, especially older women, were being killed each month and, on one day in August, twelve 2 people were said to have been killed. The Shinyanga Regional Police Office was quoted as reporting that the killings were worst after the harvest when people could afford (about five cows per killing) to pay contract killers. The police could not offer any immediate solution ‘as witchcraft was so much entrenched in the region’.

President Mkapa spoke at the consecration ceremony on October 11 of the Reverend Donald Mtetemela as the fourth Anglican Archbishop in Tanzania. A capacity crowd filled the church in Iringa -Daily News.

A Japanese medical technician at Muhimbili, Rieko Anaoku, was killed by armed bandits at Mikocheni, Dar es Salaam on September 17 when she struggled with them. Foreign Minister Jakaya Kikwete delivered a condolence message at the funeral in Dar es Salaam. On October 5 seven main suspects in the case appeared in court on various charges including the theft of many other vehicles. -Daily News.

The Regional Commissioner in Iringa has instructed agricultural extension staff in his region to sign village registers and jot down remarks on the agricultural expertise they had offered to farmers. This would maintain a duty performance record he said.

A resident of Pawaga in Iringa District has been sentenced to 24 years in prison for killing a giraffe in the Ruaha National Park on December 14 1994. The giraffe was said to be worth Shs 420,000 and the magistrate said that he was giving a severe punishment because of the ‘alarming rate of poaching’ ­Daily Mail.

The government was forced to withdraw a Bill it presented to parliament which would have raised the retirement age in the public service from 55 to 60. MP’s said that many educated people were waiting for jobs in the civil service -The African.

Vice-President Dr Omar Ali Juma opened the renovated Olduvai Gorge Museum near Ngorongoro crater on October 15. Financial and technical support came from the Getty Conservation Institute in Los Angeles. A recent survey of government-sponsored students studying abroad indicated that there were 147 in the Commonwealth of Independent States (former Soviet Union), 98 in India, 73 in the USA, 62 in Britain, 39 in Poland, 26 in Bulgaria, 25 in China, 21 in Cuba, 11 in Hungary and 10 in Canada with smaller numbers in 9 other countries.

Tanzania’s 30-strong team at the Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur in September came back with three medals. Tanzania took the silver (Simon Mrashani) and bronze (Andrea Suja) medals in the marathon and the gold medal (Michael Yombayomba) took the gold in boxing -the first gold medal Tanzania has won at the Commonwealth Games. All three work in the Police service and were promoted on their return. Tanzania came 16th out of the 70 countries which took part.

I was researching the qualitative achievements of the Katumba Rehabilitation Centre in Western Tanzania for the Ryder-Cheshire Foundation. The centre provides physiotherapy for disabled children of Burundian refugees and sees all sorts of problems from polio to cerebral palsy to worried parents! The local healthcare centre is within walking distance and I was looking for a good opportunity to visit.

On arrival I saw Regina and Hudi on their way out of the centre carrying a bag of bandages. They had sent a message that a man had been injured when fishing and might need a plaster cast. It was the perfect excuse to see the healthcare centre and watch Rudi and Hudi at work.

The centre looked like a small derelict hospital where people loitered outside empty offices looking confused. A white jeep, donated by a Japanese aid agency, sat in the middle of the complex waiting for spare parts.

Karoli, the medical officer, arrived bright and breezy cracking jokes in Swahili, English and Burundian in a monotone voice. He pointed towards the man we wanted to see, a hunched figure swathed in a bloody sheet decorated with roses. Karoli beckoned him. Karoli directed him to a corner of the ward which had filthy threadbare sheets also stained with blood from long ago. The sink by my elbow had not been cleaned and had not held water for many moons. I looked out of the window and sighed. Karoli talked to the old man and asked him what kind of treatment he wanted; did he want an X-ray? He got no answer. The old man just dribbled and peered out from his sheet. Karoli called for the two men who had accompanied the old man but they could not be found.

After much deliberation and many uncalled for wisecracks, Karoli decided to inspect the wounded and possibly broken arm. First he donned plastic gloves, so as to avoid infection, he told us repeatedly, and then he slowly unwound the filthy rags. One of the old man’s children arrived. He reminded me of a thief as he shifted uneasily from foot to foot. As the bandages came off the room filled with a putrid odour and I was glad to sit down in case I passed out. When I saw the wounds I was glad that I was sitting by an open window. Everyone else took it in their stride. There was a huge wound on his forearm and a massive tear with flesh hanging out behind and above his elbow. Everybody was laughing which made me feel more uncomfortable. Suddenly it dawned on me, while I was coping with just being there, that Karoli, Hudi and Regina and numerous others were all trying to say an English word for my benefit. Slowly I worked out what they were saying……… ‘hipotopomous’….. ‘hipopopomous’ ….. . ‘hipatetimus ….. ‘hippopotamus!’

Now I understood, amongst gales of laughter, that the poor man had been attacked by a hippopotamus, ‘Kiboko’ in Swahili. He had been fishing in a river on his own, far from home and had been attacked. This was exciting news; I was actually in the same room as someone who had not only seen but had been in combat with a hippo! The only wildlife I had seen so far were thousands of grasshoppers escaping from bush fires in Katavi National Park.

Karoli cleaned the wounds as Regina held the broken arm carefully. The child in the next bed moaned. “Cerebral malaria” Karoli said confidently and told a nurse to administer another injection.

A murmur ran through the room and a short elderly man entered, not too steadily. ‘Shikamoo’ we all chorused as a greeting of respect. Who is this funny little man I thought? He was accompanied by the old man’s other son who looked even shadier than the first. There seemed to be an argument about the old man’s treatment. The first son wanted to send his father to Tabora which was a day’s journey by train. In Tabora he would be able to get an x-ray so that the arm could be set properly as Karoli had recommended. The second son wanted the old and unsteady man to advise them. Who was this old and unsteady man? Hudi explained that the man was unsteady because he had been drinking local beer and that he was the village ‘mganga’, the witchdoctor who specialised in broken bones. This made things even more exciting – a real life witchdoctor, even if he was drunk.

The main problem was that the two sons disagreed. The first son wanted to take Karoli’s advice, but sending the old man to Tabora would cost a fair amount of money. The second son wanted the witchdoctor to treat his father which would cost a bottle of beer. I was feeling better because the arm had been cleaned and bandaged.

It was decided that the old man should go to a hospital. The old man actually spoke and said himself that he wanted to go for an x-ray. Regina prepared to make a plaster of paris back slab to make the arm comfortable for travelling. Then another argument started and Regina waited and waited until all was finally agreed. It was decided that the old man would go to Mpanda hospital, which is local and his children went off with the witchdoctor to look for transport.

I then decided to speak and pointed out that, even I, a guest, knew that there were no x-ray facilities in Mpanda. The decision seems to have been based on economics. There had even been a suggestion that the old man would be sent to Mpanda (a 45-minute drive) on the back of a bicycle!

A week later Regina visited Mpanda hospital to administer physiotherapy treatment to some in-patients. She saw the old man and he had not yet had his bandage changed or the plaster of paris back slab removed.

Helen Peeks

Following increasing public indignation about sexual offences, Parliament passed unanimously on April 23 a new very strong ‘Sexual Offences (Special Provisions) Act 1998’ under which the penalty for rape has been increased to from 30 years to life. Proceedings are to be held in camera to give victims confidence when presenting evidence.

Extracts from the sometimes heated debate in parliament in April in which very many MP’s participated:

Hamad Ali Musa (CUF) – “The death penalty for rape (as originally proposed) is too harsh. God did not send us to kill each other but sent us to multiply” he said. Fatma Said Ali, MP for Mlandege in Zanzibar, suggested (to the amused MP’s) that when older women had sex with young boys this was not part of rape but was to train the boys in sexual matters. But Halima Kimbau MP (CCM) said that older women were supposed to be moulding the younger generation into responsible parenthood, not acting as sexual partners. Fatma Ali said that wearing short dresses or applying make-up was not an excuse for men to rape women. Mrs Kimbau also thought it was unreasonable to put rapists behind bars for life and then expect them to pay compensation too. The Bill should be changed to save MP’s from looking ridiculous. “Where can you get compensation when you are in jail for life” she asked.

The July/August issue of ‘New African’ warned visitors to Tanzania. ‘Don’t wink at the girls, don’t even blink. Turn away from temptation. Winking is now regarded as a sexual assault. You could serve five years in jail for winking at a woman, or spend a life in gaol if you do it three times … .’ “It is a violation of human rights” moaned Hamad Ali Musa. Other men were quoted as saying that not enough research was done before the Bill was introduced. Others said that winking and chatting up women is endorsed by tribal tradition and customs. Others again pointed out that there was no law against women winking at men.

The Bishop of Mpapwa, the Rt. Rev. Simon Chiwanga, Chairman of the Anglican Consultative Council made history at the opening service of the Lambeth Conference at Canterbury Cathedral on July 19 when he preached the sermon. On all previous such occasions the sermon has been given by the host, the Archbishop of Canterbury. He told his 800 fellow bishops in the cathedral that the world today is in desperate need of a community of Christ-like ‘believable believers’. Speaking of conflict in many parts of the world, he said that people were hungry for Christ’s love and compassion. The church, he said, needed to turn itself inside out, from inward-looking pastoral concerns to outward-looking missionary activity. The church should reach out to the poor, the lame, the broken-hearted, and the sinner. The service was international in flavour, representing the multicultural nature of Anglicanism, which is established in 160 countries.

There should be an improvement in the state of many of the open spaces in Dar es Salaam following a decision to make the Tanzania Union for the Conservation of Nature (TUCONA) responsible for the rehabilitation, conservation and management of 13 open spaces including Mnazi Mmoja, Jangwani, Tabata, Msasani and the Village Museum.

MP’s have been complaining that a new beer, ‘The Kick’ which has 7% alcohol, instead of the more normal 5%, is too strong for users. Two bottles are said to be equivalent to six bottles of ‘Safari’ beer – the African.

Tanzanian High Commissioner in London, Dr A Shareef, who is a computer expert has congratulated ‘Tanzania Standard Newspapers’ for entering the internet and the ‘fast lane world’. He said that he now felt well informed on current issues in Tanzania and did not have to wait for the arrival of newspapers, sometimes a month late. He revealed that the High Commission’s own web site is: http://www.tanzania-online.gov.uk and invited readers of the ‘Daily News’ to visit the site.

Responding to a question in parliament, Deputy Minister for Home Affairs Major Sigela Mswima, said that he would be prepared to start using horses and donkeys in the fight against crime in rural areas if they were proved to be effective.

The abandoned shipwrecks in Dar es Salaam harbour which have been an eyesore for many years are finally going to be removed. They have been used by drug dealers, for storage of food by street vendors and as living quarters for criminals – East African.

Tanzanian boxer Rashid Matumla defeated German boxer Orhan Ajavzoski in two minutes and 34 seconds of the sixth round on in Dar es Salaam on June 27 and can now claim a match for the World Boxing Union international light middleweight title.

The first ten volumes of ‘Tanzania Law Reports’ covering the period 1983 to 1992 have been launched and are available in print and on CD-rom as a result of a combined effort involving the World Bank, the Law Report Board, the University of Dar es Salaam, Juta and Co. of S. Africa and the Dar es Salaam publisher ‘Mkuki wa Nyota’.

There are 112 Tanzanians and 231 non-Tanzanians working in Tanzanian embassies abroad – answer to a question in parliament – Daily News.

Indonesian administrative attache Sugeng Sugiyono was given 48 hours to leave the country. He was accused of having in his personal effects 19 leopard skins, 12 elephant tusks, a crocodile skin, a python skin and nine objects made from ivory. This is the third time since 1989 that an Indonesian has been found in a similar act – Daily News.

Chief Justice Francis Nyalali has said that the magistrate in Kasanga who sentenced to death the dog ‘immigration’ (TA No 60) erred in law (the magistrate was still on probation) because he had the dog killed before there had been time for an appeal. There was no law in Tanzania on the naming of animals. The Tanzania Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals had earlier won an appeal and allowed the dog owner to claim for compensation. Justice Nyalali praised the media for bringing this matter to people’s attention as it concerned people’s rights.

Dar es Salaam has another new hotel of quality. The Hotel Sea Cliff is situated in a spectacular position on top of the cliff at the north eastern point of the Msasani peninsula at the end of Toure Drive, 11 kms from the city centre and 22 kms from the international airport. Beautifully finished, the hotel has 70 rooms and suites; its three conference rooms accommodate up to 100 persons. The attractive garden has a large swimming pool and there is a professionally equipped and expertly managed Fitness Centre. The ‘Dhow Restaurant’ offers international cuisine and there is an Afro-Mediterranean restaurant and bar situated on the edge of the coral cliff overlooking the Indian Ocean.

Abdallah Said Fundikira (38), the son of Tanzania’s first Minister of Justice, Chief Abdallah Said Fundikira, an airport immigration officer, has been acquitted after being accused of forging a Tanzania citizenship certificate for an alleged Shs 200,000. The magistrate said that Fundikira had no case to answer.

District Commissioners came under heavy fire from both the President and the Prime Minister at a recent seminar in Dodoma. President Mkapa accused them of taking no action in the face of humiliation and harassment being suffered by villagers at the hands of ward and village executive officers. He criticised drunkenness, the use of abusive language and promiscuity among their ranks. The following day Prime Minister Sumaye said that the presentations of development reports by DC’s, particularly on agriculture, were grossly unsatisfactory. They lacked clear targets, projections and strategies towards achieving the targets. “We can’t run the government by mere words” he said. Some of the DC’s were reported in the ‘Daily News’ to have been fumbling with their figures, excusing themselves for having no data and sneaking out of the meeting to search for data. The Prime Minister told one DC that what he was presenting was ‘porojo’ (aimless words). The DC for Bukombe said that the civil service was not dogged by its present structure but by hypocrisy, sadism and boot-licking. Leaders who were too loyal and treated their superiors as demigods prospered while competent, firm and ‘unsaying ones’ were frustrated. “Shikamoos are used as criteria to weigh up leaders” he said.

Some 11,000 house crows have been killed in Dar es Salaam during the last 12 months according to the Tanzania Wildlife Conservation Society. But they remained a great threat to people’s health. The Indian crows, which came in the latter part of the 19th century and are estimated to number 400,000, scavenge at rubbish dumps and contaminate water in wells. They are aggressive predators of local birds and domestic poultry – Daily News.

At a meeting on the proposed East African Road Network at Arusha in May, Minister for Works Mrs Anna Abdullah said that her government had increased its revenues for the Road Fund from Shs 3.75 billion in 1991 to Shs 35 billion by the middle of this year. The revenue came from fuel levy and other duties on motor vehicles, licenses, registration and transfer fees. The government would set up in this financial year a National Roads Agency (TANROADS) to undertake management and maintenance of the roads network. It would be monitored by a government/private sector board. Included in the first phase would be the Dar es Salaam-Dodoma-Isaka-Mutukula Corridor.

At the Consultative Group Meeting between government and the donors held in Dar es Salaam (unusually, as such meetings are normally held in Paris) starting on December 10th donors pledged $1.0 billion to Tanzania for the year 1998. Several donors said that they would contribute to a fund to help Tanzania reduce its $8.1 billion debt, about half of which was multilateral. The entire cabinet answered questions from the delegates.

Responding to continued concerns amongst donors about corruption, President Mkapa told the 200 delegates “My war against corruption is not restricted within the covers of the Warioba Report; (outlined in earlier issues of TA) anyone else (in addition to those mentioned in the report as possible culprits) against whom sufficient evidence that can stand in court is established, will be sent to court. And that is official. Corruption will be made a high-risk low-profit endeavour” he said. Cases were difficult to prove in court and that was why he had used his powers to retire public servants in the public interest. “They are powers that I have used extensively and will continue to use.. . .We have to build a consensus with donor countries on ways to criminalise corruption in international tendering where the really big money is. Such corruption should be a criminal offence in donor countries as it is in Tanzania” he said.

The Daily News reported on December 17″ that during the last 7 years (1991 to May 1997) 522 police had been fired for corruption including 176 during the period from January to May 1997. Police Inspector General Omar Mahita said that a Criminal Intelligence Unit had been set up to coordinate swift arrest of suspects.

The El Nino weather phenomenon has created devastation all over the country during for the last five months. There has been damage to roads, bridges, railways, airports, housing, agriculture and health provision. Many people have been killed; 350,000 were rendered homeless. As this issue of TA goes to press (April 13) there are reports of a major disaster in the Merelani area in the Arusha Province with over 50 miners missing after torrential rains caused flooding and the collapse of tunnels dug in the search for the precious stone Tanzanite and gold.

Train services between Dodoma, Kigoma and Mwanza were suspended for weeks and, at the end of December, 400 wagons were stranded. Two key bridges in Morogoro were swept away. In February, 60,000 tons of cargo destined for neighbouring countries was held up in Dar es Salaam. In Bukoba 5,000 11ecta-es of coffee and ba~anas were reported destroyed Tobacco production was expected to fall from 42 million kgs in 1997 to 25 million kgs in 1995. Even the Batik clothes industry has suffered because of the lack of sunlight needed for drying in the final stage of production. Maize production in Rukwa Region was expected to be cut to 30,000 tons compared with the average of 50,000 tons normally obtained and cotton production in the Lake regions was expected to fall from 85,000 to 45,000 tons. Tourism was affected when the routes to the main national parks became waterlogged.

The first estimates of the cost of El Nino is some $1l7 million. President Mkapa went to Dodoma for a special meeting with MP’s on February 10 at which he announced that government expenditure had to be cut immediately. Seminars, workshops and symposia would have to stop unless they were donor financed, local and overseas trips by government officials would be severely restricted; there should be a reduction in the number of officials accompanying ministers to meetings of parliament in Dodoma; officers who had received loans for vehicles must not use government transport. President Mkapa appealed to donors to set up a Multilateral Debt Fund for the country to help the government pay for the necessary repairs and rehabilitation. The President wondered how Tanzania could be expected to continue to pay its enormous debts when the economy was unable to generate the necessary funds.

Rut it was not all bad news. With rivers flowing and dams filling, Tanzania’s chronic electricity cuts became a thing of the past and cattle ranchers were not complaining about the abundance of grazing following the rains. El Nino was also good for tea growers. Production is likely to increase from 23,164 kgs last year to some 25,000 kgs this year. And the Rufiji Leprosy Trust, while reporting three deaths and the whole Rufiji valley being like a huge lake, added that fresh fish was plentiful during the floods.

It’s 11 am and people say that I will easily find a daladala (minibus) going to Kimbiji -a fishing village I knew from 40 years ago. And so I did, as the buses all competed for custom at Kigomboni by the ferry. One conductor seized me and thrust me into a minibus meant for 25 and already holding 40. I am pushed up into the centre isle and soon establish myself on smiling terms with those around me -you could never do that in England. The only thing is to hang on and keep standing.

Years ago I knew this road south from Dar es Salaam and that it might take me an hour to reach Kimbiji. “Of course you’ll get there” said the taxi driver in town “Roads are much better than when you lived here.” We passed Njimwema, Vikindu, and lots of village names now forgotten.

Eventually I got a sort of seat balancing on the hump of the transmission with my feet either side of the gear lever. Later I got a real seat and found that I was next to a young lobster and crab merchant who lived in Kimbiji and kindly agreed to be my guide in case things had changed. His name he said was ‘Julius Nyerere’ and as he looked nothing like the original I asked how this was, surprised that Mwalimu should be a model for the young in 1998.

JN seemed rather spivvy for the unspoilt village I remembered, so I left this topic and concentrated on the ‘road’ which had degenerated into a series of unplumbed pools. The bus plunged into these valiantly and its sort of bonnet often disappeared, to the accompaniment of clouds of steam rising within the cabin. Eventually we came to a worse pool than usual and upon a bus coming the other way which had foundered, blocking the way. The ‘conductor’ announced he was going no further.

How far still left to walk to Kimbiji? Perhaps half an hour I was told.

There was no going back, having endured 90 minutes of rough travel So, trousers rolled, Alfred Prufrock style, and in bare feet I stepped out with a few others, grumbling about the hidden coral obstacles that struck our feet as we went. Of my guide JN there was no sign But, as we neared the village a heavy road grader overtook us and there perched high up was JN with a slightly mocking look.

He hadn’t expected me to come to his remote village and had thought that, as a European, I would be making for Ras Kutani or some such tourist spot nearby. But from that moment this young man of 22 assumed responsibility for me and took me to meet Mwinyimadi Amor, father of the village chairman and various notables.

I had only brought a small rucksack with camera and swimming trunks and began to realise that no daladala would be going back to Dar es Salaam that day as it was now 4pm, and the road was still blocked.
But the village I had known -a compact village, a dafu’s throw from the beach -had disappeared. In the 1970’s I was told it had been ordered to move -was it Ujamaa or some illusory threat from the sea? And it had settled half a mile inland. A dark tangle of mango and cashew nut trees showed where the old village had been. A maritime Dunsinane!

JN and a band of young followers recognised my desire for a swim by shouting ‘beachi’ or more likely Bichi (raw, inexperienced) and I hope that didn’t reflect my state. We all plunged in.

Back to the village. Various gatherings outside shops or ‘soda’ bars waylaid me as the light faded. Soon over 100 people had gathered round as we sat on the ground and listened to the talk of 40 years ago. Not many, sadly, are still alive to remember it. “What colour was your Landrover?” Its number? And where did you find us meeting?” and so on.

I had been 25 then – the first District Officer Mzizima, as the peri- urban area around Dar es Salaam was known. One day I travelled out to Kimbiji as part of my work and found a TANU political meeting in progress for which no permit had been issued. A ‘meeting’ was more than six people and this had 50 or more. Retreating to get advice, I was told to return to the village, close the meeting and take details of the leaders. In due course they appeared before the Resident Magistrate and I had, reluctantly, to give evidence and the leaders were duly convicted and fined. The authority of the administering government had been challenged and had to be upheld.

Periodically after that I had to return to Kimbiji and I was able to help the people in various ways and so I was forgiven. One of my last acts, with their consent, was to excise two elegant blue and white cups, possibly 18’~ century, from the ancient chimney-like graves hidden in a close thicket near the sea and present them on the village’s behalf to the National Museum. Where are they now?

All these things were mulled over and when we talked about these hidden graves they knew I knew the place and loved it, even though this time I had arrived on foot, shabby and alone.

“Chakula vipi” called JN and I was invited to select my supper in the family house – very tasty rice and beef – and then adjourn to the unlit verandah in front of his father’s house. Old Fadhili seemed to be blind and had one distorted polio leg which had never been walked on. “He is an Mchawi” said JN but this was meant to be a joke – not a withdoctor, but a dabbler in medicine, as well as being a teacher.

The village was in darkness but I could hear noise from a generator powering a large TV in the village hall. It was CNN bringing us international football from West Africa. What wonderful propaganda opportunities CNN has on a virgin audience in rural Tanzania as TV spreads and silences traditional evening conversation.

Amazing! JN has given me his room complete with large bed and mosquito net. JN said he had his sister’s room as she was away. I will never know.

In the morning I would have liked another swim but JN wanted to be off with his lobsters and crabs to sell at the ferry as he did every day and didn’t want to miss the trade. Eventually the faded blue bus – of a type that operated in Dar es Salaam many decades ago – got started with a push from all of us and back we set out on the bumpy ride to the ferry. I felt that I knew almost every pool and corner by the time we had gradually filled up with passengers. This time, sitting close behind the driver, it was my job to hold and tip up the can of diesel being gradually sucked into the engine by plastic tube. Twice we ran out and had to fill up from assignments known only to the driver.

Time to reflect on my journey. JN told me that the whole unspoilt beach on which we had bathed had been sold to ‘Europeans’ for the further development of the Ras Kutani resort. Well, at least, I thought, that sale would have brought money and benefits to the village. But no, it seemed that the land had been sold by individuals for their own benefit. Strange ways the modern socialism of Tanzania have taken.

JN was not JN at all. All young men assume these soubriqets and so I said goodbye to Mansur Fadhili who had so naturally and unaffectedly assumed responsibility for me and left me to recross the ferry and return to his village.

And Kiinbiji? Perhaps in another 40 years it will be just a by-water village like Kunduchi, cut off from and ignored by the tourist trade surrounding it, with just a few yards of shore left for fishermen to beach their outrigger ngalawas and canoes and ply their own centuries-old livelihood.

Simon Hardwick

The UN’s Annual Development Cooperation Report for 1996 revealed that the total aid received by Tanzania in 1996 was $906.4 million (65% in the form of grants) l 1.4% higher than in the previous year and equivalent to $3 1.16 per person compared with $28.8 the previous year. Japan was the leading bilateral donor followed by Denmark, Sweden, Norway and the Netherlands. Bilateral donors provided 53.% of the aid, multilateral agencies led by the World Bank provided 44.4%. Transport (14.7%) and public administration (12.3%) were the sectors which benefited most.

Recent aid includes: UNDP -$66 million for equipment to be used in the fight against ALDS in Zanzibar. The WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME (for nine months starting in December 1997) -$33 million for relief food in 48 districts. DENMARK -Shs 30 billion for rehabilitation of the Dar es Salaam-Chalinze Road and improvements to the Wami Bridge. NORWAY -Shs 2.67 billion for a 33/11 Kilovolt sub-station at Changombe to alleviate low voltage problems and Shs 355 million for research work at the Sokoine University of Agriculture JAPAN -$181,000 for improvements to the Dodoma water supply and rehabilitation of the Malangali Secondary School and $80,000 to ESAURP for a programme of education in democracy. GERMANY -S11s 3.5 million for medicine to fight cholera in Zanzibar. BRITAIN -a patrol boat (Shs 10 million) to be used against drug trafficking and dynamite fishing. SOUTH AFRICA -two tons of construction equipment and four tons of medical supplies to alleviate damaged caused by the floods in January. The EU -Shs 22 billion for rehabilitation of 2,700 kms of roads in Rungwe and Iringa regions. FINLAND -Shs 296 million for local govemnent reform. BELGIUM -Shs 5 1 billion to repair damage on the Central railway and Shs 16 billion for banana and water projects in the Kagera Region. FRANCE -Shs 10 million to help combat cholera in Kagera, Maswa and Zanzibar. The WORLD BANK/IDA -$21.8 million for agricultural research. AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT BANK -Shs 2.55 billion for health rehabilitation projects.