Many years ago, I sat beside Brigadier General Hashim Mbita, then Executive Secretary of the OAU Liberation Committee, at a World Veterans Federation meeting in Maputo, where I heard heroic accounts of Mozambique’s liberation struggle. One story stood out: Samora Machel, pistol in hand, later to become Mozambique’s first president, coordinated the evacuation of a…
I still remember him like it was yesterday, even though it has been a very long time since I last saw him. How could I not remember Mr Sune? When he walked into our class when I was in third year of secondary school, we were all excited to have a European teacher as our…
There are 26 administrative regions in mainland Tanzania. A quick analysis reveals stark economic disparities between them in terms of income per capita, poverty rates and human development indicators. According to the Bank of Tanzania’s Consolidated Zonal Economic Performance Report, released in July 2026, the regions can be classified into five groups: Top Performing, Strong…
Someone has breached a contract and owes you money. Naturally, you are angry. But please, do not become the court, judge and bailiff all at once! Under Tanzania’s Law of Contract Act, a breach of contract gives the affected party legal remedies. Section 73 provides for compensation for certain losses caused by the breach. But…
Last week, I wrote about my travel adventure to Tandala Upper Boys Boarding School, in what is now Makete District, in 1965 and how my colleagues and I arrived worn out and mud-splattered from torso to toe, carrying our red wooden boxes on our heads as heavy rain drenched our tiny bodies. Well, we settled…
She gazed at the meadows,The flaps of her sky blue scarfswaying in the breeze,Her flushed cheeksExhilarated with joy,Watching the lambs scurrying by,And the clouds ahead in white puffs,Chasing one another,The dappled sunlightStreaming over ripe fruitsIn the orchard,Tinkling with silver and golden bells,As she twirled in the air,The beauty of natureFilling her with love and gratitude,Looking…
At Mama Z’s, the shop is wideWith bread and soap and beans insideThe shelves lean left, the cat looks boredA toddler sleeps beside the cordAnd everyone pays when they can The news is told with heavy breathA goat escaped, they chased it westSomeone saw clouds that looked like riceA boy drank milk not smelling nice…
It felt like an ambush. I had just paid for a bunch of ripe yellow-orange plantains (“mzuzu” in Swahili) and while zipping up my wallet, there she was staring with restless, eager eyes. Sudden pleasure as well as sadness in those eyes. “Pee-lease buy me bread. Me, very hungary!” Familiar English pronunciation on London streets….
History gives us a mixture of very good leaders and pathetic self-centred leaders. It is my intention today to reflect on good leadership and particularly on leadership that is free of egoism and selfishness. In his book: The Road to Leadership: Finding a Life of Purpose, American Businessman and Philanthropist, Kenneth E. Behring (1928-2019), quotes…
Fossil and genetic evidence increasingly suggests that our species did not emerge from one isolated corner of the continent. Instead, different populations across Africa appear to have remained separated at times and connected at others, meeting, migrating and interbreeding over many thousands of years. East Africa played an enormously important role in this story, but…
