TANZANIAN HISTORY: UNTOLD STORIES- Amboni caves and the story of the African hero
This is a new weekly column by a budding Tanzanian historian who has worked as a research assistant with several PHD candidates in the country and founder of the project: Untold Stories of Tanzanian History. The project is designed to unearth the missing link in the country’s history and culture for the benefit of current and future generations. Read on
Amboni Caves are natural limestone underground caves formed during the natural Jurassic age around 150 millions ago. There are 10 caves - with fascinating chambers – and the longest is about 900m long. One of the caves is used for guided tours while some are up to 13 meters high. They form the most extensive cave system in East Africa.
The caves have religious significance to the local people who pray and make offerings in one of the shrines. The caves are very dark inside and potentially lethal. There have been reports of fatalities when people made the tour unguided.
Several stories about the cave are told on the cave tours. There is for example the story of two European ex-army officers. After World War II they tried to explore the caves with heavy equipment and accompanied by a dog.
They never returned, but their dog was found a few months later outside another cave. The dog was identified by its ID tag. What makes the story a spooky legend is the place where the dog was found: 400km away at the foothills of Mt Kilimanjaro.
But one of the stories that is not recorded is that of an African hero, Osalo Otango whose story is very common during visits to the caves or if you get time to talk to the people of Kiomoni village near by the caves.
Tanga City, located on Tanzania's North East coast, is the country's chief northern seaport, and is close to Pemba Island, Mombasa, Pangani and Mkomazi Game Reserve. The Amboni caves are five miles from city centre, off the main Tanga/Mombassa road. At the entrance of the Amboni caves, an official guide named Kassim who I met at the Kiomoni village where I lived when I visited Tanga.
I was introduced to him by a friend of mine Ferdinand Mizambwa working with the Antiquities Unit at the National Museum then under the Ministry of Education and Culture. Kassin is the first man to discover more caves on his own as before there was only the main cave while now there are 10 caves.
Kassim ended up with cave three before being fired from his job as a tour guide in the cave. He is experienced, charming and he has been showing visitors to the Amboni caves for more than 15 years. You cannot believe that he was still a casual worker and nobody ever noticed him for his discovery.
Kassim led me to the tour in the caves and we reached at a place where Osalo Otango used to hide. It is a high place with a picture of a lion and if you see the place you would be surprised and wonder how he was climbing the place to reach his bed.
“This is where Osalo used to sleep when he was hiding from the Whites”... Kassim said to me.
“Who is Osalo Otango”? I wanted to know more about him.
“Osalo was captured from Kigoma, although many talk about him being a Kenyan. They are saying this because his name begins with an ‘O’ but even Congolese have names which begin with an ‘O’. And people of Kigoma are the ones that were captured as ‘Manambas’, so others think that Osalo was a Congolese who was captured by accident thinking he is a ‘Muha’ People in the sisal plantations call them ‘Warundi’ (Rundies from Burundi).
“Osalo was a miracle person; his story begins when the whites could not take his blood unwillingly as they did to other Manambas at the sisal plantations, so they labeled him their enemy instead. They made even other black people like us to see him as an enemy but in his story there is no where he harmed a black person,” narrates Kassim.
“It was when the new Manambas were brought from several places like Iringa, Tabora, and Kigoma. The ‘Mumianis’ (the blood hunters/suckers) used to make a trick of putting on fire to the sisal plantations, for the Manambas to go and put it off. The old Manambas would not go because they knew the story but the new one’s would run to put off the fire. One day Osalo was among those who went to put out the fire, and he was captured with few others.
It is said that after his capture, the captives had their blood taken out one by one until they died one after another. When Osalo’s turn came, the needle could not penetrate in Osalo’s body. They could not let him go free because he would tell the secret to other Manambas. They wanted to kill him by beheading him but still this could not work. They shot him with guns even the bullets could not penetrate in his body, so the story goes.
“Is it true what you are telling me now Kassim?” I asked.
“That is how it was... He said and continues. “Then Osalo fought them and ran away back to his quarter at the Amboni quarters. The Mumianis knew he would tell the secret to others; and this was strictly a secret that was known only by the white, and a few blacks who worked with them.
They then captured saying he was a thief. He was put in cell at Amboni estate. After work when the ‘Mzungu’ went home; he found Osalo at his table having his 4 oclock tea. You cannot believe it, but it is true,”Kassim added when he saw me kind of lost.
“I believe you please continue what happened?” I reminded him.
“The Mzungu called for the police, Osalo was captured again and put in Maweni Prison. But when the Mzungu went to his room to sleep, he found Osalo already on his bed sleeping. He kept on appearing and disappearing, thus disturbing and killing the whites only. It was then was declared a Wanted Man and a price announced for whoever was going to kill him.
Osalo’s main hiding place was the Amboni Caves, where there was his girlfriend at a village near the Caves called Kiomoni. He managed to have a baby boy with her who up to now does not know that his father is Osalo due to the bad reputation he was given by the whites.
It is said Osalo had his best friend who knew the secret behind Osalo’s power. It is when the friend who broke the promise he made with Osalo and told the secret to the whites when they managed to kill Osalo.
Why did he kill only whites? I asked.
“He was revenging the death of his fellow Manambas. Osalo was not a bad guy, he was fighting for freedom,” Kassim answered.
I was really touched by this story and asked myself: Why are only stories about white ‘heroes’ the only one’s being told, but not those of black heroes like Mkwawa, Kinjekitile and many others?
The black ‘Hero’ stories are told by our great grand parents who we do no believe. We only believe in the stories of David Livingstone and Stanley who at that time communication was a problem. We throw away our black heroes and forget them for good. If we want to tell about them, they will be told from the white’s point of view. Who knows better about our past: Our ancestors or whites?
If all stories about Africans are not true and proof is demanded, why is not proof being demanded to prove that the Eden is in Iraq where it is just a desert and not in Ngorongoro?
I wonder why we should be controlled even on our past while we know well that the ones who know better about our past are our ancestors who were there after all. We instead believe someone who was not there at a time when even communication was difficult. Time to change