MY GREAT GRANDMOTHER’S OTHER CHILDREN

 

As I mentioned before, Siutanda Kimwagutangu was given four wives by Mutwa Mkwava, one of them Getrude Semponela bore two sons, Waligunga and Raphael.  And she left Siutanda and went and got married to Silanga Mwa Milimo,where she got three children Ana Maria, Joseph Milimo, and the last born Anthony.

Joseph got very good education and was one of the students at Tabora Boys School. He worked through several good jobs, his last job was as a Postmaster in Tanga, one day while at work, he received a telephone call, when he put the  receiver to his ear, he heard a pop sound and was deaf from that moment to his death.

Extract from a letter Joseph mwa Milimo wrote to his brother Mwalimu Raphael. He was recalling a dream where he saw their dead  mother happy and smiling, the next day he got a job as a veterinary officer.  

Anthony mwa Milimo was a character, he was a tall well built man, a known notorious thief, he was a good singer and dancer and  whenever he appeared, if there was some occasion where there was dancing  everyone was excited by his presence.

He was a  well known cow thief and had been arrested so many times that the colonial rulers put a mark on his upper arm a mark of a trouble maker.
There is a story of him being caught for stealing some cattle, he twisted the story so much that the village chairman ‘Jumbe’, who was one of the elders judging the case, ended up being jailed for six months for stealing those cattle, and Anthony  walked away a free man.
There were songs composed telling children to be aware of Anthony the thief, the joke is he would sing these songs when he got a chance to sing and dance.

One of the songs which he composed himself had these words;

Ndawonige nene nda vamelu mwana, ndawonige nene,

Nde Mwamilimo nene lifunga Jumbe,

Tanslated – I thought they would give me a wife, I thought so

                      I Mwamilimo, who sent the Jumbe to jail

Once he was caught, and two policemen got the task of escorting Anthony who was in handcuffs  from Kaning’ombe village  to the main police station in Iringa town. The sun was setting when they arrived at Msombwe village, and so they started looking for a place to spend the night, someone mentioned that Anthony’s uncle, Michael Kitime  lived nearby,  the policemen went to Michael's compound to ask for shelter, the moment Michael saw his nephew Anthony,  he shouted in despair ,’Hee wone lye lyusile ili’. Translated would be, ‘Ohh no this thing has come here again’.
 The policemen were shown a place to sleep, and Anthony was tied to a pole, somehow he managed to get the cuffs open and as he was running away in the dark he shouted,’ Wake up fools I have left your iron rings for you’.