- Title: KENYA: SLAVE ARTEFACTS TO BE PRESERVED BY KENYA'S MUSEUMS.
- Date: 28th August 2001
- Summary: MOMBASA, KENYA (AUGUST 21, 2001) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. VARIOUS OF MOMBASA OLD TOWN 2. VARIOUS OF ARABIC WRITINGS 3. MORE OF MOMBASA OLD TOWN 4. OLD PORTUGUESE FORT, FORT JESUS 5. BUNKER WHERE SLAVES WERE HELD BEFORE TRANSPORTATION TO ZANZIBAR AND OTHER SLAVE MARKET CENTRES 6. CANNONS 7. VIEW OF OCEAN FROM FORT 8. GALLERY WITH PAINTINGS BY PORTUGUESE 9. PAN OF PAINTINGS ON WALL 10. PAINTING SHOWING SHIP CARRYING SLAVES 11. PAINTING SHOWING SLAVE PULLING CART AND UNKNOWN ANIMAL IN THE BACK 12. REVEREND DAVID MWAMBILA IN CHURCH BUILT ORIGINALLY FOR FREED SLAVES 13. (SOUNDBITE)(English) REVEREND DAVID MWAMBILA, SAYING: "It was a cruel thing they said - it was very cruel for a human being to be done like that - sold to become like an animal, and treated like an animal, but they had a long journey to walk before they came to the sea." 14. PICTURES OF REVEREND DAVID MWAMBILA'S FATHER ON WALL 15. WRITINGS SHOWING HIS NAME MATTHEW WELLINGTON 16. PAN OF EMMANUEL CHURCH RECENTLY RENOVATED 17. CHURCH BEING PAINTED 18. BELL TOWER 19. SIGN BY NATIONAL MUSEUMS, EXPLAINING THAT THE BELL TOWER WAS CONSTRUCTED BY THE SOCIETY FOR FREE SLAVES AT KISAUNI 20. BELL TOWER 21. CLOSE OF BELL 22. POPULATION LIVING IN FRERE VILLAGE 23. MODERN CONSTRUCTION AT FRERE VILLAGE 24. FRERE TOWN BAR WHICH BELONGS TO DESCENDANT OF A FREED SLAVE, WALTER MBOTELA 25. MORE OF FRERE TOWN 26. EXTERIOR OF SHIMONI CAVES WHERE SLAVES WERE HELD AND OTHERS TORTURED 27. SIGN SHOWING TO THE SLAVE CAVES 28. EXTERIOR OF CAVES 29. DESCENDANT OF FREED SLAVES, WALTER MBOTELA AND TOUR GUIDE AT SHIMONI, ATHMAN OMARI, WALKING DOWN INTO THE CAVES 30. VARIOUS OF INSIDE CAVE, TILT UP TO BATS 31. CLOSE OF BATS 32. (SOUNDBITE)(English) ATHMAN OMARI, TOUR GUIDE AT SHIMONI CAVES SAYING: "For those people who were held in this cave, there are some who tried to run away. For those who tried to run away and managed to do so, it was lucky to them, but for those who tried and by bad luck ended in the hands of the Arabs again, they were brought here and given a severe punishment, because a chain would be put through there and another through there and tie the hands of the person concerned and again would be whipped severely in-front of other slaves so they could be scared." 33. VARIOUS OF HOOKS 34. (SOUNDBITE)(English) DESCENDANT OF FREED SLAVE WALTER MBOTELA, SAYING: "We don't have anything else we can say against the Arabs, except just to say well, it was a terrible thing the Arabs did to Africans, and I think its a matter that should be forgotten. That's all (laughter)." 35. PAN OF MOSQUE 36. MUSLIMS AT PRAYER 37. CLOSE OF MUSLIMS AT PRAYER AND SET-UP OF ISLAMIC PARTY OF KENYA CHAIRMAN, SHEIKH KHALIFA MOHAMMED 38. (SOUNDBITE)(English) ISLAMIC PARTY OF KENYA, CHAIRMAN, SHEIKH KHALIFA MOHAMMED SAYING: "Islam is fighting well, and is leading we don't want to see any kind of slavery, this is one of the human rights of Islam." 39. VARIOUS OF DHOWS 40. DHOW SAILING IN THE INDIAN OCEAN 41. BOAT SAILING WITH PEOPLE ON IT Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 12th September 2001 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: MOMBASA AND SHIMONI, KENYA
- Country: Kenya
- Reuters ID: LVAE1RV9UFDWKORQ0ASMP7B96Z0D
- Story Text: The descendants of freed slaves and their former Arab
owners are attempting to heal the scars of slavery in
Mombasa's Freretown, on the Kenyan coast, by forgiving, but
not forgetting the past.
The preservation of old slave artefacts and buildings
by the Museums of Kenya is a constant reminder of Mombasa's
grim slave history.
The signs of the slave trade in Kenya's oldest city date
back to the 12th century when the city was first inhabited by
Arabs.
Both the Arabs and later the Portuguese colonists traded
in slaves, who were taken from deep in the interior of the
country. Most of the slaves were sold by their chiefs, others
volunteered for enslavement to escape famine and others were
captured during raids as far to the south as Malawi.
Slaves were kept in this bunker before transportation to
Zanzibar and other market centres.
Freretown, with its 5,000 inhabitants, including
descendants of the slaves and those who traded in this human
misery, is trying to get on with modern life, by educating its
citizens about the wrongs of the past.
The preservation programme evokes painful and emotional
memories among many of the inhabitants of the town.
A majority of Freretown's residents are of Arab origin,
while others have recently settled in the town and have been
made aware of the history of the town through tales that have
been passed on from generation to generation, or through
history lessons in school.
The Old town in Mombasa underwent a dramatic change with
the arrival of the Portuguese who fought with the Arabs, as
they sought supremacy.
In 1553, the Portuguese built Fort Jesus, as a defence
against the Arabs. They were able maintain their rule on the
coast for a hundred years, but lost to the Arabs after a
series of battles in 1698.
During the Arab reign, these slaves were held in Fort
Jesus before they were transported to places like Zanzibar to
work on clove farms.
The Portuguese mainly acquired their slaves for resale.
Portuguese wall paintings within the Fort, show some of the
slaves in a ship in the Indian Ocean and others at work.
There was a time though, when some captured slaves would
be freed by British warships patrolling the high seas.
Reverend David Mwambila is a descendant of one such freed
slave.
His great-grandfather, Matthew Wellington, was given this
name by his master, David Livingstone. He was among three of
explorer David Livingstone's faithful servants who were freed
from Arab slave traders.
He was among 271 slave freed from Arabs and protected by
the British navy. They were later converted to Christianity
and influenced the growth of the Anglican church.
Sir Bartle Frere was in charge of the rescue and a small town
along the coast where freed slaves were settled was named in
his honour.
Frere Town is currently a poor neighbourhood in Mombasa
with about 5,000 inhabitants.
The neighbourhood is now home to modern buildings. But
the evidence of the former slave trade is hard to ignore with
sites like the towering Bell, which was used to warn the freed
slaves in the area about possible raids by the Arabs wishing
to reclaim and then sell them.
Another location where slaves were held was at Shimoni
which means the place of the hole.
This was a natural cave close to the sea, where hundreds
of slaves were held before undergoing sea voyages.
The Shimoni caves, now infested by thousands of bats,
are under a community rehabilitation and development project,
which has been initiated by the Museums of Kenya, with the aim
of preserving the caves.
Many slaves were tortured, especially those who tried to
run away, as a warning to others, said Athman Omari, a tour
guide at the Shimoni caves.
Speaking to Reuters Television at the caves, Walter
Mbotela, a descendant of freed slaves says the Arabs should be
forgiven for what they did.
And the Muslim community too is remorseful for what
happened to the Africans years ago.
Historians estimate that up to 15 million Africans were
traded from the continent.
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