Mervyn Maciel wrote: > Hardly had they reached the front door on returning from > church, when all hell seemed to have broken out with the > sound of heavy gun fire filling the air. Whereas previously > everyone went about their business without fear, an eerie > silence seemed to descend on this once peaceful isle.
Mervyn, As always, I find your recollections fascinating. This is the first time I have read of what it was like during those fateful days. All the accounts I have heard before, have been verbal. For some, the events were so tragic, they refuse to recount what they witnessed then. Zanzibar was a paradise to most Goans before the revolution. After the revolution, it sunk into a hell hole for almost everyone. I know a lot of Zanzibari Goans who were studying abroad and who were left in limbo, not because of the Zanzibar Govt scholarships but because of their passports. This took so long to resolve and the situation got so bad in Zanzibar that some of the graduates were advised not to return. > Sporadic shooting continued and since my uncle's house was > close to the Cable and Wireless station and American Embassy > (obvious targets), several of the bullets whizzed past our > window. We spoke in soft tones around the house and even had > to try and get Andrew to suppress his cough as 'soldiers' > were going around from house to house and we didn't know what > to expect. This must have been real scary. Some Goans got shot dead during the revolution and as you can imagine, this is still a very delicate issue for their families. > As my uncle and aunt were reluctant to leave (having lived > here for several years), we decided to stay put, and if needs > be perish with them! It was very fortunate that our eldest > son (Clyde) and cousin (Naty) had left for Nairobi (to be > back at school) well before the revolution broke out. As mentioned before, my Zanzibar grand-mom was in Dar on the day of the revolution. She was scheduled to leave for Zanzibar the next day. My parents could only convince her to stay for a week longer. My grand-mom wanted to and returned to her birthplace and home a week later, even though she lived there by herself. > We had heard stories of a massacre of several > people in the predominantly Arab quarter which we > had visited a few days earlier; some friends of my > uncle had also lost their lives. When a semblance > of normality seemed to return, I visited the local > post office to post some of the letters I'd been > writing to family and friends. I was not allowed > to use independence stamps on these letters unless > they (the postal staff) first crossed out the > Sultan's head! Some days later, they had managed > to rubber stamp all stamps across with the word > 'Jamhuri' (meaning Republic). I bought a few of > these new stamps as I was a keen collector in those > days. Later on, John D'Silva, a Goan artist, designed a set of stamps with Zanzibar scenes for the Tanzanian Post Office. > On returning to my job in Njoro after a relaxing > few days at the Coast, I was able to write and > thank Robert for his efforts on our behalf. When > we set out on our East African holiday, I had never > imagined that we would encounter a situation like > the bloody revolution we had just been through. To > have come out of it with not a scratch is nothing > short of a miracle! Your generation witnessed at lot in E. Africa. My generation missed out on most of the pivotal events. Tanganyika had a near army mutiny in Jan 1964, but has been peaceful ever since. Mervyn Lobo
