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Issue 00536 |
September 20 - 26, 2008 |
issn 0856 - 9135 |
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Off Topic |
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Arusha’s Decadent Culture of Booze and ‘Nyama Choma’ By lute wa lutengano Sometimes ago I found myself in Stockholm, Sweden. This is the city in which the country’s Prime Minister was gunned down some years ago as he and his wife strolled leisurely out of a cinema hall. Now most of you Bongolanders will be shocked to learn that this Prime Minister, whose country finances Tanzania billions of ‘vijisenti’ every year, did not have a single bodyguard on that day. But in Sweden, that is normal. It is no big deal to see a Swedish cabinet minister or in several cases the country’s Prime Minister literally riding a bicycle across several streets to office. And this is without the security goons hovering about. It goes without saying that the Swedish and many others of their type are always shocked when they see our Bongoland leaders’ long convoys of four-wheel fuel guzzlers full of security goons and other pot-bellied local potatoes hurtling down some potholed paths as if we have oceans of oil. And yet we send delegations to their capital to beg for money for our ailing economy. But then, that is a story for another day all together. Back to Stockholm! On the day I arrived there I was in the company of two other Bongolanders - Jenerali Ulimwengu, a former Secretary General of the Pan African Youth Movement and later founding Chairman of the Habari Corporation, the publishers of Rai, Mtanzania and the African newspapers; and Dr. Sengondo Mvungi, a prominent journalist and lawyer who lectures at the University of Dar es Salaam. Then Ulimwengu, for typical African reasons, had been declared a non-world person. The Bongo authorities of the time had suddenly stripped him of his citizenship. They had declared that he, notwithstanding the fact that, his parents and grandparents were born eating matoke in Bongoland and that it was Bongoland which seconded him to Algiers to head the continental youth movement, apart from appointing District Governor in several parts of the country, was now a non-Tanzanian. Appreciating this typical African zaniness, the European Union, had handed him some cyclostyled ‘World Citizen’ document to facilitate his global travels. I am narrating all this because at the Amsterdam Schipol airport where I met him for the Swedish trip, he sauntered through the European citizens’ only gate without batting an eyelid. I and Dr. Mvungi, with our Bongoland passports had to undergo the harrowing hassle of explaining our mission and the like to the hawk-eyed immigration officers before going through the entry gate. Ulimwengu had advised us to meet him at the Stockholm departure gate. I knew on reaching there I would most likely find him quaffing a second pint of beer. But No! He was there of course, but not with a pint of beer. He was inside a small bookshop buying books. He actually bought a huge volume on the history of world slavery. I was flabbergasted. And soon after landing in Stockholm and checking into the Kungsgarten Hotel, we decided to take a stroll around the central district to ‘check the city’ up. Yes we did that! I was looking forward to testing some Swedish lager beer in due course. But that was not to be. Ulimwengu dragged our delegation into a big bookshop where we spent more than an hour checking on the latest publications. He bought more books. I also got hooked and bought a book ‘The Phantom Voyagers; Evidence of Indonesian Settlements in Africa in Ancient Times.’ I have to admit that on reading the book my understanding of the ancient history of the East African coast was much enriched. Later we visited a central Stockholm theatre hall where we watched a Shakespeare play. It was only after the play that we sat down for some beer session. It was expensive beer, for that matter. That day, however, was culturally and scholarly speaking very enriching. I had forgotten about that experience until the other day when I saw a book exhibition at the Kijenge roundabout by the Ebenezer Foundation. There were scores of locals and tourists patronising the exhibition. This, I found was something new and very enriching for Arushans and their visitors. It is quite a departure from the mainline culture of the Arusha I know. The decadent Arusha culture of booze and ‘nyama choma’! It is my hope that this is the beginning of a rich cultural and intellectual revolution in Arusha. Can this really happen? lutengano@hotmail.com.
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