One morning this week as I headed to work, I met a group of early trekkers to Arushas central business district who, like me, were heading to their different daily chores. Normally the setting of Arushas business centre during the early part of the day is interesting. Nowhere else is it better to observe the early morning buzz of Tanzanian life than walking on Arusha’s sizable pavements. This morning as I talked about Taifa Stars latest good fortunes in qualifying for South Africa 2010 with one Robert Frank hailing from behind Moun Kilimanjaro a convoy of ICTR detainees cruised past us from their detention facility to the court. Taifa Stars is the national soccer team of Tanzania and recently gave the country a big boost by beating Cameroon 1-0 at home; as a result, Tanzania is rather unusually on top of the African Cup of Nations group. Like in Rwanda, soccer is extremely popular here; however Tanzanians love their national team with a particular devotion known only maybe to Arsenal fans. Also in a baffling way, Tanzanians tend to have two Christian or ‘Kizungu’ (European) names. For example, it is common to find a Masaai clad in his traditional garb but with a name like Robertson Benjamin. This is amazing given the influence of Mwalimu Julius Nyerere in everyday Tanzania and the fact that many people speak Swahili rather than English as their first language. As Frank discussed the national game of Tanzania, the Rwandan international prisoners accused of Genocide, crimes against humanity and God knows what other name the lawyers here have come up with passed us. The passing would be otherwise normal had it not been the activity that the detainees cause while they are being driven around. The prisoners were like the kind only seen in US thriller series ‘Prison Break’. They are driven in a five vehicle convoy, complete with a noisy advance alarm car to clear traffic; their windows are covered in dark opaque colours. The prisoners are escorted by a variety of armed security organs, first there’s the traffic police for transit, then the army, the UN security detail, plain clothed operatives and a variety of technological gadgets mostly seen on the big screen. ‘Prison Break’ has Fish a.k.a. Scofield as the lead actor, this time, the prisoners had an aged man with gray hair as their protagonist, no one sees him unless he has too, which means for the time he has been in detention at the he UNDF outside Arusha centre, General Paterman Bisheke (not his real name) is seen by only those that have to see him. Wherever he passes a human wall forms on both sides; he passes in between a human corridor. When he is being driven to court, traffic stops, anybody, apart from the President of Tanzania stops for the general. I was curious to see him on the streets, but no matter how I stretched my neck, security popped up and urged me back into line. One guy commented as we were held back while Bisheke was approaching,he is protected like the gorillas back home. It is hard to ignore the irony, if Bisheke is this protected when ideally he is a prisoner, how important or dangerous was he in 1994? Contact: donmuhinda@yahoo.com
