Iringa

Iringa’s name is derived from the Kihehe ‘Lilinga’, which means ‘fort’ (Onyango 2009. n.p).

The name is believed to be connected with the longstanding culture of the Wahehe of creating a strong defence against enemies in the course of battle.⁸ Iringa region is growing, but not as fast as Dar es Salaam. The total population is 900,000 lower than the population of Dar es Salaam. The figure below illustrates the point.

District Population

Iringa District Council 254,032

Mufindi District Council 265,829

Iringa Municipal Council 151,345

Kilolo District Council 281,130

Mafinga District Council 51,902

Total 941,238

Table 1: Iringa population by district, Source: Population sensor 2012

expected to go digital in October 2014. For more go to:

https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/wanabidii/uNET7jp16dg

8Interview with Samuel Mwamuyinga residing in Kalenga village

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Measuring the development of Iringa region in infrastructural terms, the region can be said to be booming. There have been enormous improvements in the roads. In the 1990s Iringa had only one university but today there are four (REDET 2007: n.p). Surprisingly, in spite of all these improvements, the region still lags behind economically. Because of this, the youth in Iringa lack economic opportunities, for some industries have closed down or moved to other regions like Dar es Salaam or other places where it is believed there is a higher circulation of currency (Don Bosco 2013: n.p). Limited economic opportunities mean that many youth remain jobless or underemployed. Statistics show that Iringa is leading in terms of the proportion of HIV cases in the country, as 9.1 percent of the population are living with HIV.

A study conducted by USAID (2013) indicates that the youth are the ones mostly affected by HIV. The main factor contributing to the rapid spread of HIV is poverty and the lack of economic opportunities (Rebecca, interview 2012). The reason for the lack of access to economic opportunities, among other things, is that most economic opportunities in Iringa are still in the hands of the older generation. While male youth steal and rob to distribute resources from the older to the younger generation, young women engage in sexual relationships for the same ends. It is common for a young woman to have two male friends, one older and the other younger. The former is for kuchunwa buzi (literally means flaying a goat) for exploiting him financially, and the latter is for ushikaji (somebody to simply touch) for enjoying sexual life. Mshikaji is used by the youth to mean a very good friend. In a sexual relationship the word mshikaji stands for a girlfriend or boyfriend of the same age. The tradition of young women having more than one male partner is reflected in the USAID study carried out in Iringa (2013). USAID found that male partners are called kindoo na kidumu (big buckets and gallons). Ndoo is the main sexual partner while kidumu or plural vidumu signifies two or more partners whose role is to provide for material needs. To quote USAID;

Many women have no way to earn money. So, they rely on sexual relationship with older men to fulfil their material needs such as toothbrush and soup. Women perceived economic necessity of having ndoo na kidumu (a big bucket and gallon container for carrying water). If the bucket falls, at least the gallon of water is still intact. In other words, a woman needs a main sexual partner to fulfil most of her material needs, as well as one or more addinatinal partners to supplement these needs and provide a finacial safety net” (p.12). ⁹

9 See also Ansel (2005: 119).

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Iringa region was targeted due to the poor economic situation affecting young people there.

The study aimed at examining how both young women and men in ngoma groups avail themselves of ngoma to overcome economic challenges.

In technological terms, Iringa region moved at a slower pace than Dar es Salaam. Whilst Dar es Salaam television broadcasting went digital in December 2012, Iringa was expected to go digital in October 2014 (Rweyemamu 2012). This meant that at the time this study was carried out the inhabitants of Iringa had been using the analogue system, with all the limitations of only having access to local channels and weak signals from antennas purchased from street vendors.

Parallel to TV sets, there are far fewer mobile phones in Iringa than in Dar es Salaam. As cited above, the cost of buying technological devices in Iringa is much higher than it is in Dar es Salaam. Because fewer inhabitants possess mobile phones, which can often access the internet, there is much less demand for internet access. This was clearly evident through observations made in internet cafés. Unlike Dar es Salaam where internet cafés were frequented by many users, internet cafés in Iringa were not busy in spite of being very few in number. Iringa was chosen to explore the extent to which limited access to technology safeguards ngoma from global influences as well as how limited access to the internet makes the transmission of ngoma performances from one generation to the other much smoother.

The Wahehe are well known for their culture of resistance since the colonial period. Going through the literature I came across a document written by Jerrad in (1936) when the British colonial rulers were in power. When Gerrad wrote this document he was an Assistant District Officer of Labour in Tanga province. It shows that labourers were getting sick because of eating unhealthy food. The document was written to suggest that different kinds of food should be eaten by the workers to stop them being ill, which would increase productivity. My concern was over the statement at the end of his suggestions.

“Hehe people dislike intensity, going out to labour and refusing to be contracted. Only a few leave the district for that reason”

The quotation above shows that in the colonial period Wahehe people were insurgents, which appears to be the case today. Another piece of evidence is seen in Mlokozi’s (1979: 1) play

‘Mukwava va Uhehe’ or the ‘Mkwawa of Hehe Ethnic Group’. The introduction provides a synopsis of the reality of Wahehe society. Mulokozi argues that when the German Colonial

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Government ruled Tanganyika, Chief Mkwawa told traders who passed through Wahehe province to pay tax. This irritated the German Colonial Government. Governor Wieseman told chief Mkwawa to travel to Dar es Salaam to apologise for what he asked of the traders.

Mkwawa fearlessly refused to do so. If this is not enough to show how resistant the Wahehe were, during the battle between Wahehe and the Germans Mkwawa realized that he was about to be defeated, but instead of being restrained, he committed suicide (Williams 2005: 332).

After committing suicide his skull was transported to Bremen and brought back to Wahehe society in June 1954 (Malangalila 1987: 85). Malangalila (1989) therefore shows clearly that because Mkwawa was an insurgent he committed suicide.

Cementing the notion of insurgency in Wahehe society, my experience as the daughter of Muhehe (my mother) and thus being brought up by Muhehe and Mkinga (my father), I learned that the culture of resistance of the Wahehe is still being maintained. This is obvious through their saying ndimugaya sida (I have no problem). The statement is often used by the Wahehe to resist any oppression or pursuit they think may possibly lead to loss of dignity.

Thus, ndimugaya sida is often utilized to maintain self-respect and pride as Wahehe, irrespective of one’s economic condition (Ibid, p. 84). Drawing on Malangalila, who regards the Wahehe as individuals who tend to maintain their culture and customs inherited from their ancestors, I chose Iringa to explore the extent to which the culture of resistance protects ngoma from global influences.

Furthermore, Iringa was selected, for it is where I was born and brought up. I singled out Iringa, because it would be easier to collect data in a place where people know me than in a place where I have no understanding of the people and their culture. Indeed being familiar with people made my life as a researcher easy. While I was still in Bayreuth doing some early preparation for my first fieldwork, I just phoned friends and relatives to help me establish contacts with informants. Because of the early information that was sent to informants, in almost every group I went to meet them for interviews, the question was always wewe ndio ambaye tuliambiwa utakuja? Or are you the one we were told about? The question suggested that almost all the respondents had been informed beforehand about this research.

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