Letter from Butiama: Driving tips

This is one of numerous articles I wrote for the Sunday News (Tanzania) column "Letter from Butiama" between 2005 and 2011. Publication date: 1st May 2005.

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With the subject of politics - and especially next Wednesday's conference for the nomination of the presidential candidate for Chama cha Mapinduzi in almost every one's mind* - I turn to a non-political subject, driving. These are practical suggestions to make your driving safer and with few surprises, especially if you drive on long distances.

This is not the check-your-water-and-oil-before-you-drive type of advice. It is advice you probably won't get from your driving school. It comes from one who has driven for almost twenty-five years with only one serious accident to his credit.

I have yet to meet a driver who admits he is substandard. So the first rule of driving is: before you even turn on the ignition you have to believe in yourself; if you don't, no one else will. Consider yourself the best driver in the world; what you lack you'll gain with experience. Don't take this literally though, you need to have some basic driving lessons before you hit the road although I know a few people who learnt how to drive after obtaining their driving licences.

The second rule is don't give rides to strangers, especially men. There are far more men with criminal intentions than women with similar character. The results of studies around the world show that far more many men are convicted of crimes than women. For Britain in 1984 the figure was 86 percent. If you have a weak heart for helping those in need I suggest you give rides only to women, but be weary of beautiful women. Sometimes, behind a beautiful female face stands an ugly male face with not so socially acceptable intentions.

I suggest that the least dangerous stranger you can carry is an old woman. Better still, women with children. Even a woman with criminal intentions will probably leave her child home before attemtping to hijack a car.

Rule three: avoid stopping to help a person who seems to be injured and is lying on the road. While driving from Mwanza to Dodoma last November I came across a roadblock at night and a man dressed in civilian clothes emerged with a sub-machine gun. I assumed he was a policeman because he did not point the gun at me to demand money. Before I drove off he cautioned that the 40-kilometre section to Dodoma was not safe and asked me, "Do you know the rules for night driving?"

"Such as?" I asked.
"Such as, if you find someone lying on the road, what will you do?" he asked.
I replied, "I would drive past him and return tomorrow to check whether he is still there."
"Drive on," he said, "you know the rules."

Rule four: drive as fast as you want when you are alone. You have a right to risk your life if that pleases you but the moment you have a passenger on board show a little respect for the preference of most human beings to remain alive forever. I broke that rule once but have not regretted it. I drove from Songea to Dar es Salaam with a passenger at unusually high speeds throughout the journey. About halfway through the journey we reached the Kitonga Hills where we stopped for a few minutes to buy roasted maize at the roadside. About 20 minutes earlier we overtook two passenger buses which on reaching the same spot where we bought maize were ambushed by armed bandits who shot and wounded a truck driver.

When we heard the news of the ambush the next day we "agreed" that whatever made me drive unusually fast the previous day saved us from from an unpleasant encounter with armed bandits.

I should probably add that, sometimes, excessive speeding can be used to avoid dangerous situations (I recall this from my driving lessons twenty five years ago). It is an irony that sometimes it is possible to risk your life to save your life.

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Some geological history from Mara region

About 20 kilometres before reaching Butiama on the Mwanza - Musoma road, travelers approach these three hills (photo, below): Kihuzu (1,684m) on the left, Makerere Mkubwa in the middle, and Muganzo on the right. The road cuts between Makerere Mkubwa and Muganzo.

Several years ago I met a lecturer from the Geology Department of the University of Dar es Salaam who informed me that one of the two hills on the left side of the road is over half the age of our planet Earth; the trouble is I cannot remember which of the two hills he identified.

I am assuming it is Makerere Mkubwa; I stand to be corrected.

Makere Mkubwa has some interesting geologic history. First, a little earth history: Planet Earth is estimated to be 4.56 billion years old. The African continent consists of various types of rocks, but predominantly five ancient Precambrian cratons: Zimbabwe, West Africa, Kaapvaal, Congo, and Tanzania. A craton is a segment of the continent that has remained tectonically stable and relatively earthquake-free for a long period.

The Precambrian geologic period ranges from 540 to 3.8 billion years, although, as with most science, there is no consensus of this lower limit. Thus it has not been officially recognized by the international scientific body that stamps approval on geologic dates, the International Commission on Stratigraphy. I am just fascinated that every so often I drive past a hill composed of rock material that is at least 540 millions years old and could be a few billion years old.

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The Mwalimu Nyerere Charity Climb 2009

As with last year, this year I am also combining my climb of Mt. Kilimanjaro with raising funds for charity. This year I am raising funds for Community Alive, an organization based in Musoma that is active in providing help to people affected by AIDS, primarily children.

Community Alive was launched in the mid nineties with the objective of informing youth and their peers on HIV/AIDS and what they can do to protect themselves, but has since evolved into a program that, today, assists people of all age groups affected by AIDS.

Community Alive's assistance to children includes:

• education support activities (school uniforms, shoes, books and pens)
• Home and school visits
• counselling and recreational activities
• food and medical support for families in need
• socialisation and psychosocial support
  I would like to appeal to anyone who would like to support Community Alive and the Mwalimu Nyerere Charity Climb 2009 to donate through the following:

Community Alive
P.O. Box 327
Musoma, Tanzania.

Bank Account:
No. 064 - 6000246

Title of Bank Account:
Community Alive

Bank:
Barclays Bank, Musoma Branch, Tanzania.

Further information on Community Alive can be obtained by writing directly to them at the mailing address provided above or by calling Joseph Musira (Project Manager) at: +255(028)2622430, or through his mobile No.: +255(078)7713 771.

Visitors to Butiama

Before Jaffar Amin visited Butiama in April, his visit, which was organized by the Swahili Service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), was preceded by the arrival of some of BBC Swahili Service's big shots, including Solomon Mugera, head of the Swahili Service, Vicky Ntetema, the Tanzania Bureau Chief for the BBC.

Others from the BBC who came to Butiama included anchor Charles Hillary who normally reports from London, Caroline Karobia who is stationed at Nairobi, and a familiar name to BBC Swahili listeners, Eric David Nampesya, BBC's reporter for the Great Lakes Region, top right, with Solomon Mugera.

As an avid radio listener who regularly listens to BBC radio I felt dwarfed by the presence of such big names from the BBC Swahili Service.

Preparing for Kilimanjaro Climb 2009

First the good news: I have finally managed to take into my possession a mountain bike to help me raise my fitness level for the Kilimanjaro Climb in September. I still have to pay my niece for the bike which she bought but has never used although I plan to convince her to donate it to me as her contribution to the Mwalimu Nyerere Charity Climb 2009.

The bad news: the bicycle is in Dar es Salaam, where I have been for the past week while I should have it at Butiama where I would be able to ride up and down Mt. Mtuzu. I have been riding it around Dar es Salaam and have been careful to dodge some of the road hogs of Dar who learn to drive on the road, rather than at a driving school.

Yesterday I met an individual who tells me he used to sell driving licenses at a cost of Sh.150,000 (approximately $US130), complete with driving test certificates and the necessary signed 'official' papers and permits. Some of the individuals to whom he has sold these licenses are drivers of public service vehicles. He would pay about a tenth of his selling price to a middlemen with the necessary connections to the relevant government offices.

Back to Kilimanjaro: I am still undecided whether I should take the bicycle to Butiama or keep it in Dar where I have found it is extremely convenient to use during rush hour and will take you to a destination faster than a vehicle. Which reminds me; I saw someone driving a yellow Lamborghini in the streets of Dar es Salaam two days ago and the only impression I have, considering the snail pace of traffic in Dar is: what a waste of money and horsepower.