Venantius and Roland have given us fairly reasoned accounts of Goans in the Colonial era in Africa mainly East Africa (Both Portuguese and British). It would be pertinent to mention that Goans were respected and liked, more, by the African than other Members of the Indian communities. Perhaps being subjects of a cruel and intolerant Portuguese ruler, made us more sympathetic to African aspirations. It is therefore not lost that people like the Late Pio De Gama Pinto was a stalwart in fighting for African Aspiration. And the African response to his contribution was to assassinate him. This is what one gets in return. There are other Goans as well who sacrificed and contributed to the emancipation and eventual independence of Africa like J.M. Nazareth, and 'Gandhi' Pereira and many others. To say that the African was ungrateful for such stellar contributions would be an understatement.
Many Goans employed Africans as servants and most treated them well paying them at least the Minimum Wage (Kanuni ya sirikali). Other Indian communities almost always tried to circumvent the minimum wage and treated the African poorly. This treatment came at a price to Goans who could not be distinguished from other Indians due to the similar colour of our skins. We were therefore labeled with all the rest as 'Muindi' (Indian). Therefore when retribution came, we lost mainly due to skin colour similarities. Having worked in the civil service in Africa, and dealing with many Africans of various tribes, I can truly say that we treated the African fairly and administered our duties to the best of our ability. To say we were lackeys is far from the truth as we sometimes had to look danger in the eye and do the right thing as true human beings. To say that Goans were fair, one has only to see why the corruption in Africa is so rampant. It is the Indian who introduced it there and perpetuated its existence. Goan people who worked disbursing amounts to Africans in remote areas were honest and god fearing. Some Indians doing the same jobs often cheated the illiterate African and some of them even took bribes to perform tasks such as replacements of lost ID's (Kipande) etc. May be others have opinions on this and I leave it up to them. Manuel ( Eddie) Tavares
