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.