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Derek R Peterson

27 Aug, 14 tweets, 6 min read

I've been fascinated at the Kenya Daily Nation's reporting on John Okello, the 'Field Marshall' who overthrew the Sultan's gov't in Jan. 1964.

Here's Okello & colleagues with the flag of the newly-founded People's Republic of Zanzibar, 19 Jan. 1964.

Thread 1/

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Okello came to power when he & 200 men stormed a police station, armed with bows & arrows. After they captured the armory they gained the upper hand over the Sultan's police.

The Kenyan papers were fascinated with Okello: early reports held him to be a Kenya citizen.

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In January and Feb 1964 Okello--at the head of his heavily-armed supporters--made a series of incendiary speeches: those who opposed the revolution wld be 'cut into little pieces and thrown into the sea'.

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On 20 Feb Okello made an unannounced trip to Kenya, arriving on a commercial flight to Mombasa. Within a few days he was said to be in Uganda.

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On 28 Feb. he visited Jomo Kenyatta in Nairobi; he is said also to have met with Obote. 'There is nothing mysterious about him', said Achieng Oneko.

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On 11 March he gave a press conference in Nairobi. By that time he had been banned from returning to Zanzibar--he was not even allowed to collect his personal possessions.

The Nation heralded his ouster, calling him an embarrassment to the Zanzibar government.

7/
Here's a (silent) video clip of Okello's press conference in Nairobi.

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By 16 March he was in Kampala, staying in a top hotel and driving a brand-new Peugeot--evidently given to him by an Ethiopian supporter.

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In the time that followed his triumphant arrival in Kampala Okello's fortunes were steadily diminished. Within a few weeks he had wrecked his Peugeot in a car crash. In October he was arrested in Tanzania.

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He spent the rest of his life in and out of prison, accused by the governments of Kenya, Uganda & Tanzania of conspiring against them.

In November 1964, for example, Hastings Banda accused him of planning to overthrow Malawi's government.

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He spent the first anniversary of the Zanzibar Revolution at a small hotel in Nairobi, hoping to get a meeting with Jomo Kenyatta.

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He was imprisoned by Obote in 1967; shortly after his release he was imprisoned in Kenya & held for several years.

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John Okello had a cordial meeting with Idi Amin early in 1971. Amin guaranteed Okello's freedom of movement.

Later that year Okello was killed--apparently by Amin's men.

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John Okello was a key figure in eastern Africa's political history: a threat to the cloistered power of Nyerere, Kenyatta, Banda & Obote.

He was also a charismatic figure in religious life: the Legio Maria regarded him as the Angel Gabriel, sent to end evil in the world.

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Derek R Peterson

@Unseen_Archive

7 Sep

@AP

Labor unionist & politician Tom Mboya was assassinated outside a chemist's shop in Nairobi on 5 July 1969.

Here's a short thread with some newly-digitised @AP footage. First: the scene at Chaani's Pharmacy & at Nairobi Hospital on that dreadful day.

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@AP 2/
Here's the Nation's report describing the scene at the mortuary and at Mboya's Lavington residence, where thousands of people gathered to mourn.

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@AP 3/
Mboya's requiem was said at Holy Family cathedral on 8 July. There were thousands of people assembled. When Kenyatta's motorcade arrived the presidential car was pelted with stones & shoes.

There was so much teargas that Kenyatta himself was in tears. 80 people were injured.

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Derek R Peterson

@Unseen_Archive

12 Aug

The Tanzania govt's campaign against the opposition brings to mind an earlier episode: the Treason Trial of 1970-71.

Prosecutors claimed that Oscar Kambona--shown here in London--masterminded a plot to assassinate Nyerere & others. A key co-defendant: Bibi Titi Mohammed. Thread.

2/
Purportedly Kambona sent Bibi Titi funds to pay an assassin, who would work with men in the military to bring down Nyerere's govt.

The trial opened in Dar in May 1970. The Kenya Daily Nation had a reporter in the courtroom for the whole trial, which lasted more than a year.

3/
A key witness for the prosecution was Potlako Leballo, sometime leader of the Pan-African Congress, a South Africa-based anti-apartheid organization headquartered in Dar.

Leballo acted as a spy for TZ intelligence, as these reports show.

Read 11 tweets

Derek R Peterson

@Unseen_Archive

29 Jun

Swazi king Mswati III today fled the country in the face of popular anger.

Here's a thread on the history of protest in eSwatini. In 1963 striking miners & sugar workers demanded better wages & an open political system. The strike was put down by British troops flown frm Kenya.

2/
The strike leaders were identified by hooded 'screeners'--a technique borrowed from the British campaign against Mau Mau in Kenya.

Below: British troops round up striking workers at an asbestos mine in eSwatini, June 1963. They were demanding one man-one vote.

3/
In 1964 voters went to the polls for the first time in 61 years of British colonial control. The king--Sobhuza II--launched a political party to contest the election. He intended to take Swaziland into apartheid South Africa--a means of reinforcing his royal power.

Read 8 tweets

Derek R Peterson

@Unseen_Archive

23 Jun

@RuhakanaR

Today @RuhakanaR--Uganda's PM--handed over his office.

Dr. Rugunda has been a constant presence in public life. He first appears in the archival record in 1969, when--as VP of the Nat Union of Students @Makerere--he visited the US ambassador.

Here's the diplomat's report. 1/

2/
Rugunda was a high school student, about to enter university. The subjects of their discussion: the US's dismal treatment of black Americans & the ongoing war in Vietnam.

Two weeks later Rugunda was back at the US embassy with further criticism of the US war in Vietnam.

@UCBerkeley

3/
After Idi Amin came to power many NUSU leaders went into exile. Rugunda went to @UCBerkeley, where he did an MA in Public Health. Photo below from 1978.

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Derek R Peterson

@Unseen_Archive

22 Jun

@Reuters

In 1968 the Tanzanian Youth League launched Operation Vijana. Their target: women who wore miniskirts. Wigs, dyed hair & tight bellbottoms were also abolished. Here's a @Reuters clip from Dar es Salaam.

'It is foolish to wear clothes that show legs,' Nyerere declared. 1/3

Here's a TYL poster from 1968 illustrating 'appropriate' styles of attire.

For several months TYL 'Green Guards' roamed the city's streets, defrocking women found wearing clothing they deemed inappropriate. Also abolished: soul music from the United States.

@UdsmOfficial

3/3
By 1970 the campaign had largely run out of steam. Female students @UdsmOfficial organised marches defending miniskirts, routing the TYL with a chant of 'Get lost'. Girls at a youth hostel unanimously voted that 'men should not decide what women will wear'.

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Derek R Peterson

@Unseen_Archive

29 May

At 3 am on 1 Aug 1982 soldiers from the Kenya Air Force launched a coup against the gov't of Daniel arap Moi.

The airmen seized Eastleigh airbase & the Voice of Kenya in Nairobi. They called themselves the National Redemption Council.

Clip below from the morning after. 1/4

2/4
In an announcement--read by VoK's Leonard Mambo--they accused Moi of carrying out 'ruthless repression reminiscent of colonial days ... Moi's bandit gang is gone. People can now breathe'.

There was a great deal of looting in the CBD. Here's the cleanup the morning after.

3/4
Moi was in Kabarnet at the time of the coup, & much of the army leadership was in Lodwar.

A small group of officers stormed the VoK, & then the army fanned out in Nairobi, searching for Air Force men. At least 3,000 people were arrested; 100 soldiers were killed.