FRANCIS KITIME THE MUSICIAN

 

Let me go back a little, Francis Raphael Kitime, my father, was a musician almost the whole of his life, not the professional kind like I turned out to be, but there was always music around him.  When joined the middle school in 1943, there was a school band The band was started several years earlier by Father Prina a Catholic priest and a teacher at the school. Father Prina was one of the students’ favorite teacher, he taught Chemistry, Physics, and English. He spoke very good English, his father was Italian, he must have learnt to speak English from his Canadian  mother.
The school band was big it had at a time about 40 musicians. After joining the band Francis first learned how to play the cornet, then the alto saxophone, the mandolin, later he also learned how to play the accordion, the ukulele, the banjo and the guitar. The guitar was his main instruments for most of his life.

Francis Kitime, third from left sitting, here playing the mandolin, the priest if Father Musso, next to him with glasses is Lucas Kambanyuma, who was to become my fathers best man years later.

The school band would travel to Iringa and perform at European Clubs.  The band went to perform many times for Polish war refugees whose camp was in Ifunda a few kilometers from Iringa town. This has always been quite surprising as I never heard of the camp being mentioned in history books when I was in school.
 One of the Polish refugees was a music professor,  he taught the band to perform two pieces of music, polka 1 and polka 2. My father always said his favourite was Polka 1.

The band would go to Iringa to perform on all British public holidays like the Empire day and other bank holidays.

Francis and his friend Raphael Ndaskoi learnt how to play guitar from Father Musso’s guitar, another famous priest in Tosamaganga. They would borrow the guitar  and  learn and practice. Raphael was better at the guitar but he used to play the guitar in vamping style and the priests had banned that kind of guitar playing. They later made their own guitars from planks of wood so they could play freely.

Years later when he started working in Njombe he bought himself his first guitar. He owned that guitar for many years until the sad incident in 1962 when my mother had to sell the guitar to raise money for his freedom.

Francis Kitime's first guitar

My father composed more than 300 hundred songs, most of them in Kihehe language, a few in Kiswahili, one or two in English and also one or two in Italian, which he had self-taught. In 1959, him and my mother, who was now accompanying him in his singing went to Dar es Salaam together with my sister Evelina, a new addition to our family, and recorded a number of songs. During that period my mother also recorded several folk stories. I remember the day we all sat down and listed to a program they featured.

Receipt of royalties for the radio program

I wonder if that was the day a seed grew in me that I would be heard in the radio too someday.  

DISASTER! JAIL TERM FOR THE HEADMASTER

 

One day in September 1962 while working in his office,  a messenger from the district government office brought a note, it was from Mr. Mwalukasa who was the District Education Officer(DEO), the note was in Kiswahili and read like this;

To the Headmaster Iringa Middle School,

Msaidie huyo aliyeleta  hiyo barua ni mesenja wangu ana tatizo anataka kwenda kuoa. Msaidie shilingi 300/- atarudisha.

The  DEO was well aware that the Headmaster had the school funds in his capacity. The money was never returned, my father must have naively thought that the messenger would return the money after the wedding.
On Friday November 9, 1962, I was in my father’s office playing while he was working, I still remember, a white man wearing blue shorts and short sleeved shirt, coming into the office, after some talk, my father sent me home and told me to tell my mother that he had been taken to the police station.

What really happened that day was that actually two people came, the primary school supervisor, Mr. Amrani Mayagila had accompanied the second visitor who was from the Government Audit department in Mbeya,  he came and told my father that he had been informed that there was 300/- shillings missing from the school fund!!. 
My father agreed and showed the Auditor the note from Mr Mwalukasa, but the auditor told my father they  were taking him to the police station.
My mother was by then working as a Welfare Officer so she was not at home at the time. When she came home and heard what happened she went to the police station and was told my father was already  remand, and  would be taken to court the next morning.  She worked hard that evening to raise the 300/- and by 9:30 in the morning she was at the court house with the money only to be told it was over, her husband told her that he had already been sentenced to 18 months in jail.
He was a prisoner at the Iringa prison for 5 days , I remember my mother taking me to see him, it was strange seeing my father in jail uniforms squatting like other in mates, small as I was, the sad picture has forever  stuck in my head. On Thursday November 15^th , just 6 days later, my father and 20 other prisoners all in handcuffs  were transferred to Ruanda Prison in a public bus. They arrived in Mbeya around 5 pm, and were sent to Ruanda prison, where they were counted and identified and given numbers.
Francis Kitime was now prisoner no 1797.  

IRINGA 1958 -1962

 

Francis Kitime and family 1959, me sitting on the right

I do remember some of the things that were happening around me from 1958. I remember faces, incidents, even names, that's when I started seeing my father Francis Kitime playing music instruments the guitar, the accordion,  trumpet and saxophone. But mostly it was the guitar. He would go to school with the guitar and play some songs for the students.  Some of his students even remember  some of the songs that he performed in front of them. But he was very strict, as was the custom in those days, canning was quite common, students were canned for almost every mistake they made. Another punishment was running around the flagpole that was in front of the school. I remember the Union Jack flying in the sun while a student would be running round and round the flag. It must have been terrible.
The school started enrolling girls. I will not forget  a girl who was called Lidya, I do not remember her face, but I remember vowing that, ‘When I grow up I will marry Lidya’. It must have been the joke of the schoolboys then, I still remember them asking me again and again who would I marry when I grow older, my answer would always be Lidya.  One of the schoolgirls found out she was pregnant, that was the worst news a school girl could get then, the poor girl hanged her self on a tree behind the school not very far from our house, I was playing in the bushes behind the school when I saw someone hanging from a tree, it was so scary, I ran home and hid myself under the bed for a long time.  Apart from teaching the his students, Francis was also teaching Kiswahili the European teachers from St George and St Michael School  later to be changed to Mkwawa High School, this school was built specially for children of the British colonials who were working in Tanganyika then. It was at this time that my father got into politics, he was one of the members of  United Tanganyika Party, a party that was formed in 1956 by  Edward Twining who was the Governor of Tanganyika then. Many civil servants became members of this party to save their professions. 

After the 1959 elections, TANU won by a vast majority  of almost 75% , I remember the second time hiding under the bed, this time youths from TANU Youth League, danced around our house shouting and singing. Of course at the time I didn't know why so many people were singing and shouting around our house. During the elections my father was one of the returning officers who supervised Kilolo and Kalenga Wards. Many years later when political multiparty politics were re introduced, He joined the NCCR. My mother was astaunch TANU member and later a CCM member who rose to be a ward secretary and a  member of the National Congress. It was beautiful to see these two people debate politics from two different angles and still remain the best of friends. 
My father started smoking in 1953, he began with Crown Bird brand,  and in 1962 changed to Sportsman. And by 1959, I had started being sent to buy cigarettes, this task continued for almost the next 15 years, and the worst part was when later we moved to an area that was far from shops, and being woken up at six and sent to buy cigarettes made me hate them for the rest of my life.

One day in July 1962, a white man and his wife came to the school looking for Francis Kitime. The man introduced himself as Mr Voigt, he said he was a Tea farmer from Mufindi, he was offering a scholarship to six teachers to go and study in German and he wanted Francis to be one of them, my father agreed and he was told a letter would follow as soon as he could get the other five teachers, it was exciting news.

Life was about to change forever

 

TRANSFER TO MIDDLE SCHOOL IRINGA

 

Standing L/R Joseph Karuli, Francis Kitime, sitting L/R Mrs Karuli and her daughter, my mother holding my sister Evelina, me, my sister Blandina

So in 1956 Francis bought the 1948 model Land Rover but didn’t stay long with the second hand car, in 1957 he bought another  car, a black Standard Vanguard Saloon, in 1958  he sold this car to Father Titus Fumba, a Catholic priest from Ifunda  Parish,  and went on to buy  a car which he really loved, a Vauxhall Cresta Saloon.

Vauxhall Cresta

But several important things were happening to Francis and his wife Christina,  in August 1955 the family got their first child, a son whom they named John, that is me, soon  followed by sister Blandina Victoria.

In October 1957 Francis Kitime, my father was transferred to Iringa Middle School. He drove from Njombe to Iringa in his Standard Vanguard, with his family, and also there were his wife’s younger brothers Uncle Thadei and Uncle  Clemence.

Standard Vanguard saloon

The family  arrived in Iringa safely, the family  stayed at Chief Adam Sapi’s house just opposite the Mlandege burial grounds. This tiled roof house, now has a maize milling machine installed where the sitting room used to be.
The  headmaster who was running the school before my father was Frank David Mshamu, he was the father of the famous politician Mama Anna Abdallah. Students who were under his care remember Mr. Mshamu as a very tall gentleman, he very smart and was almost always in a full suit, one of his students actually remembers that one of his suits was green in colour. To top that Mr. Mshamu was very strict. My father took over the school from this memorable man.

Iringa Middle School was initially a boys school, it had classes  5 to 8. The school was built on a site that used to be owned by Shia Ismailis who were using it as a club famously known as Gymkhana Club.

The new school buildings were built of burnt bricks, there was also a big  kitchen,  a big sports ground, and on one corner there was  the Gymkhana club office and a big hall besides the office. The office initially became the Headmasters and teachers offices and the hall was used for entertainment and vocational training classes, mostly carpentry. There was a tennis court outside the hall.  The whole school compound was sorrounded by Minyaa trees ( Euphorbial Tirical) and Miti ulaya (Eucalyptus).

 I remember some of our neighbours, there was  Joseph Lupembe and his wife Leah, who later rose to very high position in the Tanzania national  women’s organisation, UWT (Umoja wa Wanawake Tanzania).  The other family who were very close to us, was  Joseph Karuli and his family, we were so close we even took family photos together. Francis and Karuli had known each other also in Njombe.

It was from starting this time that I have memories of my childhood, I have no memories of Njombe, although when I went there for the first in my adult hood I thought some places were familiar..

WEDDING DAY, WEDNESDAY 10TH NOVEMBER 1954

 1954 was a busy year for Francis Raphael Kitime, in January he was given the responsibility of being the Headmaster of Njombe Urban Middle School, taking over from Baclon Mwakibete and it was also the year he was making his wedding plans. On Wednesday November 10^th,  1954, everything was in place. Around 9 o’clock in the morning Father Olivo of the Roman Catholic Church in Tosamaganga performed the wedding ceremony, Francis Raphael Kitime and Christina Ananias Kaberege were married,  Lucas Kambanyuma a veteran teacher at Tosamaganga Boys School as a witness for Francis and another teacher Zacharia as a witness for Christina.

A strange incident happened minutes before the marriage, one of my Francis’ aunts asked for the marriage to be called off because she had another girl called Getrude whom she thought would make a better wife for Francis. Of course he refused and marriage went on as planned, and the ceremony shifted to Msombwe, at the brides home, this was in tradition with the  Wahehe customs. In the evening the newlyweds went to Iringa to Mwalimu Raphael’s house, the grooms father.

Wedding picture 11.11.1954. Front row from left with a Kanga carryinga child Karola Kaberege (bride's elder sister,  Costanzia Ibrahimu (bride's mother), Second row 1,2,3 (unknown). Isabela Kitime (francis' sister), Francis R Kitime (groom), Christina A Kaberege (bride), Raphael Kitime, Raphel Kitimes relative. Sitting left Thadei Kaberege, right Clemence Kaberege (bride's young brothers)

The next day they boarded a bus to Njombe. On reaching the junction to Tosamaganga the bus stopped, the conductor, asked who  Francis Kitime was, and told him  he was wanted outside. Surprised he got off the bus and two Italian nuns were waiting for him outside, one was called Sister Sandra Maria they were from Tosamaganga Mission,  they told Francis that they understood he had just married but his wife was one of the teachers and they were short of teachers, could he allow his wife to continue teaching for some more time before she could join him? He was speechless to say the least, it is hard to say what could have been going on in his mind. He was a second generation  Catholic, who had been brought up not to say no to white  Catholic Missionaries and also it was during the colonial times, all Europeans were powerful. He went back to the bus and talked to his wife who agreed to stay on at Tosamaganga. She got down and Francis had to continue the journey to Njombe alone.

At the Njombe bus stand, his students and staff had planned a big reception for welcoming the headmaster’s new wife, but  Francis stepped down from the bus alone, and had to sadly relate the very unusual occurrence that had happened in Iringa.
A few weeks later during the Christmas holidays, the couple was happily together again, and decided to travel to Mbeya and visit Mwalimu Raphael, and guess what the youngsters travelled from Njombe to Mbeya on their NSU 350cc motorcycle.

By this time Francis owned  a bicycle, a gramophone and a motorcycle, he was considered a well to do young man in those days.

Sometime in 1956 he again went with his motorcycle to Mbeya, this time he went to see Princes Margaret, Queen Elizabeth's sister who was in a long African tour and was visiting Mbeya. In Mbeya he sold his motor bike and bought a 1948 model Land Rover.

 

LIKE FATHER LIKE SON, FRANCIS BECOMES A TEACHER

A letter to a loving father

IT was in December 1950 while vacationing in Mbeya that Francis received a letter of his first appointment. He was posted to teach Rular Middle School Njombe. He was welcomed by a very strict headmaster  whose name was Baclon Mwakibete. He was about twenty years old only. There were a number of students who were older than he was, but that was the fun part of it he was their comrade.  He joined the school football team as one of the players, he loved football to the end of his life. He formed a drama society, and the school held several shows for the public for free. In 1952 he attended a two week scouts course at Malangali Middle School, scouting had started becoming quite popular after being introduced in Tanganyika in the early 20s. He went back to Njombe and started the first scout troop in Njombe, it was named 1st Njombe Troop.
The young teacher bought a bicycle and a gramophone among other things. The bicycle was the type then known as ‘baiskeli ya gongo’ it was tubeless and wasn’t very comfortable to ride on bumpy roads. In 1953 sold the bike and with his other savings managed to have about 500/- in cash and he went to Dar es Salaam to buy a motorcycle. While in Dar es Salaam he  stayed at Zamzam Hotel, after using about 10/- he wrote a letter to his father asking for a loan of 150/- to be able to buy a new BSA Bantam125cc motorbike. When his father sent him the money by telegraphic transfer he went to buy the motorbike from a shop owned by an Indian. Her is how the conversation went.

 Francis: I want to buy a BSA Bantam 250

 Indian: Do you have money? (obviously not believing this young African can buy a new motor bike).

 Francis: Yes. So the Indian showed him the Bantam and he paid.

 Indian: Do you know how to ride?

 Francis: No but I have come with a friend who can.

 And so they left the shop and went to an open ground and he started practicing how to ride a motorcycle. A few days later they packed the motorbike and it was sent to Njombe by a truck.
At the time his father Mwalimu Raphael was a teacher at Ikolo in Tukuyu, the young man went to Ikolo to visit his father with his new motorbike. Njombe to Tukuyu by a motorcycle in the early 50s was quite a feat, but that’s just the beginning.
On Sundays he would ride from Njombe to Uwemba Mission to attend mass. One of the German missionaries there Father Bruno had a big German made motor bike, NSU 250 cc. Francis wanted it, so he sold his Bantam and bought the bigger and more powerful motorcycle from the missionary.

In January of 1954, the school received a letter from the Provincial Education Officer that Baclon Mwakibete the Headmaster was now transferef to Middle School Chunya, and Francis Kitime was to take over as the new Headmaster. The school had only 2 Grade 1 teachers, Baclon Mwakibete and Francis Kitime, so that’s how he came to be an obvious choice for the post of a Headmaster. He was just turning 24.

 

 

MY MOTHER CHRISTINA THE TEACHER

 My grandmother Costanzia Bitifundi Ibrahim whose traditional name was Mbeve got married to  Anania Kaberege whose traditional name wa Sasimalenga. Sasimalenga was a tough guy, who stood no nonsense, he would wake his children up two hours before sunrise  even if it was raining and with a hoe on his shoulder lead the whole family to the fields to hoe. One of his sons Benedict inherited his father's character and his children have never forgiven him. Mbeve and Sasimalenga got married and went on to get ten children. Four of the children died at an early age. Those who survived into adult hood were Karola, Maria who died in her teens, Christina  my mother, Benedict, Clemence also known as Hamza and Thadei. All the children were sent to Tosamaganga to start school and all went and got a good education by then, except my aunt Karola who decided to quit school early to get married to a soldier of The King's African Rifles (KAR) Joseph Nyemba. These soldiers were famously known then as 'askari kea', and they had monthly salaries so they were looked upon as quite affluent.

My mother Christina Kaberege was born on 29th November 1929 in Tosamaganga, she got all her education at Canon Camisasa Girls School in Tosamaganga. She completed standard eight and opted for teaching profession and completed a qualified Grade II teacher, adept in Domestic Science subjects.

Christina Kaberege displaying her work after graduating as a Grade II teacher

After finishing her course, for three years she  taught at the same school she had been a student.  Some of her school mates included, Thabita Siwale, Maria Kam, Mrs Hans Poppe, the late Zacharia Hans Poppe's mother, women who left their mark in the history of this country. 
And also Christina had a friend in the school, she was Isabela Kitime, Francis Kitime's sister. They also all came from the same village, Msombwe. Isabela introduced Christina to Francis. 

NSU 350  motor cycle

In a letter to his father in July 1953, Francis told his father that he would be going to Tosamaganga to see a girl his sister had told him about. At the time he was already owning a motorcyle, a big black German NSU 350cc. And with that motorcycle he travelled from Njombe to Tosamaganga and saw my mother for the first time.