Ugali kwa mtindi...
Those days
the word terrorist was not so instantly understood as in 2014. But this thin
bloke, (I guess he was around 170 cm, or 5 foot 7, not tall or huge, as you can
imagine), ruled one road in Dar. Independence Avenue, re-named Samora Machel
Avenue, homage to the late Mozambican leader.
A bustling street; filled with tourists,
students (Forodhani Secondary School nearby), coffee shops, beauty salons, Asian
shops, banks, restaurants, offices, bookshops;
a place to be. Hip.
The chap was
always dressed in a black kikoi, tied from waist down like the Sarongs made
internationally famous by English footballer David Beckham (pictured below) in 1998.
Kikoi, indeed,
is standard outfit for East Africans, especially in poor areas. This nightmare
from hell, wore one, carried a stick and he was as angry as he was menacing.
Never to guys, though.
We are talking of pre- internet days. Us in the
media wouldn’t even photograph the chap who I soon found out had a mental
illness and highlighted his saga in my then weekly column of the Sunday News.
Women feared him. Seriously.
