GLORY BE TO GOD BABA IS BACK

 

Christmas 1963

AFTER  enjoying the Christmas of 1963 with his family and visiting relatives my father was now ready to face the new world. He had managed to collect enough money to survive a week in Dar Es Salaam, so  in mid February 1964 he left Iringa and went to Dar es Salaam  to follow up the letter from CALTEX that he had received while in prison. In Dar es Salaam he got a room at Zam Zam Hotel. That evening there were a lot of people in the restaurant, and he saw a number of faces that he knew, one was a teacher from Tabora, who asked my father if he had come for the meeting, to which my father replied , ‘What meeting?’, the teacher told him that all people there were teachers from all over the country, they had a meeting the next day right there at Zam Zam, and the agenda would be, to inform the government on teachers’ grievances. My father told the teacher that he had other business to attend to the next day so he would not be at the meeting.
And so early the next day my father went to the CATEX headquarters at Kurasini, the secretary told him to wait for the boss, a Scott named Bob Mackay. When Bob came, my father introduced himself. It seems that my father’s letter written from prison must have  caused quite a stir, who ever writes letter from prison looking for a job and mentioning that they are still in prison?.  Bob took my father and introduced him to almost all the top officers saying, 'This is the Francis Kitime'. For some reason it seems they had already decided to hire my father, the interview was just a formality, they asked simple questions which practically  nobody could possibly fail, after the 'interview' Mr. Mackay left the room and minutes later came back with a letter and said, ‘Here is your appointment letter, tomorrow you start training’.
With a letter in his hand my father went back to Zam Zam hotel a very happy man. At the hotel he expected to meet the teachers but he found the hotel very quite. ‘Where are the teachers?’ he asked a waiter, ‘Are you a teacher also?’ My father replied ‘Yes’. The waiter told him all the other teachers had been arrested in the middle of the conference. My father thanked God for missing that meeting and he immediately moved from the hotel.

Job Training

He moved to a hotel in Ilala that belonged to Mzee Ditopile, the late Regional Commissioners father, it was a much cheaper hotel and he needed to use his money very carefully yet. The hotel  also had a space that was also a dance hall, Salum Abdallah’s Cuban Marimba band performed once while my father was staying there.

Francis Kitime first on the left sitting. Bob Mackay third left sitting. Samuel Sitta, second from left standing

My father got his appointment letter on 19^th February 1964, and for the next six months he underwent training for his new job. After completion of training he was assigned to work in  Southern Highlands Zone as a Salesman with a salary of 1000/-. His headquarters were to be Mbeya and he was sent from Dar es Salaam to Mbeya in a Dakota DC 3 type airplane, his first time on an airplane.
What a story........he once came to Mbeya by bus as a student, he next came to Mbeya on a motorcycle as a teacher,  then  he came to Mbeya in handcuffs, now he comes back in an airplane.
 He was to take over the zone from Emmanuel Rwechungura who was the Sales Manager then, other sales managers at the time were, the late Samuel Sitta who was the Lake zone Sales manager, a Mr Berege who ran North Zone.

 And to top that he was provided with a company car a Hillman Minx.

Hillman Minx picture by Redsimon

Babaaaaaaaa is back