RECALLING THE MADMAN WHO CHASED AND FLOGGED LADIES ON SAMORA AVENUE

Ugali kwa mtindi... 

Around 1978 to early 1980s Dar es Salaam, there used to be a man who terrified women.

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.

TANZANIAN PUBLISHES BOOK ON RUSSIAN EXPERIENCES DURING SOCIALIST ERA...

Some books have to be written. They must be published not for ego, money and fame - but future generations.

 “An African Student in Russia- Soviet Union” by Dr Onesphor Kyara is that type. Having failed to find a publisher (one of rejection slips hurled back by the mighty Penguin) Dr Kyara decided to self-publish. Thanks to our golden era of internet and information technology self publishing is easy in 2014.

 Available on Amazon,  E-bay, Apple i- books, as well Burns and Noble /Nook, “An African Student in Russia-Soviet Union” will soon reach  Africa based readers if Dr Kyara’s efforts succeed through  Mkuki na Nyota, local bookshops and South Africa’s Kalahari.

These are  early days.

It has only been two months...

 At the height of Ujamaa policies and the international cold war it was taboo to say certain things. 

Kyara and Marina at the height of their romance and subsequent marriage. The interesting book tells it all...