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The Story of ‘Bwana Fisi’by lute wa lutengano This is the story of ‘Bwana Fisi’ as it was narrated by one John Boyes. "The road led to a place called Arusha, and as we approached it we came to our astonishment in sight of a truly marvelous building, erected in European style and surrounded by a moat. "The Boma was a one-storey building of stone and mortar, with a huge tower in the centre and the whole glistened bright in the sunlight, like Aladdin’s Palace transported from some fairyland and dropped down in the heart of the tropics. Guess when this travelogue was written? More than a century ago! To be precise it was 1903 and Boyles was an English adventurer traveling around the then German colony which was christened ‘Deutche Ost Afrika’ or German East Africa. He went on, "emblazoned on the front of the tower were the royal arms of Germany, which could be seen nearly a mile off. The Boma had been built on a small hill at the base of Mount Meru facing the plains. Below the town were about 30 Indian, Greek and Arab shops selling cloth, trinkets, soap, enameled plates, bowls, beads and copper wire." Can you believe this? Surely certain things never change! Let us continue. "One shop even had a sewing machine and produced jackets and trousers for the German soldiers and ‘more progressive natives. Boyes writes of his approach to Arusha as through a ‘fine wide road, equal to a well kept highway in England that was carefully marked off in kilometers.’ Can you believe this? What happened to this parity with England? I think I am going cry! He goes on: "Everything about Arusha was equally surprising, the streets being laid out with fine side-walks, separated from the road by a stream of clear water flowing down cemented gully-way. We had discovered a real oasis in the wilderness." This was the Arusha of 1903? Now I am truly crying! Amid tears I read the following, again from Boyes: "The township was spotlessly clean and we saw natives with small baskets picking up any litter lying about, as though the place was the Tiegarten in Berlin and not the wild interior of the Dark Continent." I tell you the Arusha I know presently is surely the interior of this dark continent. After pitching camp Boyes and his team went to the Boma to introduce themselves to the officer in charge. There they met a trim, dapper little man with a pointed red beard, who looked-and-was a stern disciplinarian. He was Lieutenant Kuster. Lt Kuster showed them around. Boyes writes, "water from neighbouring gullies was laid on throughout the building, and a plentiful supply was available for all purposes. Water power was used for driving a lathe in the workshop and the officer had a staff of trained natives. The woodwork especially was particularly well done. Even the tiles on the roof were made by natives, and the building was made entirely from local material. "The inside of the station was paved with stone; the living-rooms were fitted with electric bells; and Kuster said he hoped to install electric light at an early date. Attached to the fort was a splendid kitchen garden in which grew almost every kind of European vegetable, next to a coffee farm. "Lieutenant Kuster entertained us most hospitably and invited us to dinner, which was served in a very comfortable dining-room. The various dishes were passed through an opening in the wall, and as each course was finished our host made a sign which was well understood by the native servants who went about their duties without a word. Everything was done with military precision, and it was evident that the natives were in awe of their master, which accounted for the title he (had) earned of ‘Bwana Fisi.’ And this, I must remind you again, was in 1903. ‘Bwana Fisi’ (Mr. Hyena) was therefore the first commander of the German Boma in Arusha and de fact Governor of the province.
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