Host City: Mombasa.
Mombasa is the second largest city in Kenya, lying on the Indian Ocean. It has a major port and an international airport. The city is the centre of the coastal tourism industry.
Mombasa was 1st called Kongowea. There came a time that many wars were fought that is why Kongowea was later to be known as Kisiwa Cha Mvita (or Mvita for short), which means "Island of War", due to the many changes in its ownership.
The town is also the headquarters of Mombasa District which, like most other districts in Kenya, is named after its chief town. Several changes came about and Mvita came to be a place as “mambo ni sasa”, to literally mean (things are now). The name Mambasa was concocted from the 1st four letters of MAMBO and the last 3 letters of SASA where we get MAMBASA. This was later to be changed to Mombasa for easier pronunciation.
The old town of Mombasa where most of the heritage of this second largest city in Kenya is largely confined in is an area of approximately 72 hectares, inhabited by a richly diverse group of communities: locals, Arabs, Asians, Portuguese and the British which have co-existed for hundreds of years.
The various social, political, religious and economic activities of these groups have created a distinct character and culture which together has come to define this old town.
The visible aspect of this unique character is a collection of historical buildings dating from the 18th century which combines, African, Arabic and European influences. Many of these buildings still exist, in beautifully carved doors as well as elegantly styled balconies attached to their turn of the century facades.
The town is mainly occupied by the Muslim Swahili people known as Waswahili. 3 major tribes are to form Waswahili people. These are:
- Wakilindini
- Watangana
- Wachangamwe.
A place called Vunga there lived the Waswahili called Wavumba and deep in Vanga there is the Vumbakuu tribe.
A disease came thus the sultan of Wasini; known as Mwanachambi Wachandi Ivoo called a Shariff from Zanzibar who was a traditional healer.
The Shariff cured the wasini people and as a sign of appreciation the Sultan gave him a Wife and thus the Shariffs or Masharifu as better known were born in Wasini.
These include the Saggaf family.
Over the centuries, there have been many immigrants and traders who settled in Mombasa, particularly from Iran, the Middle East, Somalia and the Indian sub-continent, who came mainly as traders and skilled craftsmen.
Even after four or five generations, their descendants continue to contribute highly to the economy of present day Mombasa and Kenya as a whole.
Traditional dress for the Swahili women is a brightly coloured, printed cotton sheet called a kanga or leso, which may have inspirational slogans printed on it. Muslim women wear a covering known as a bui bui, that is traditionally black, along with a head covering called a hijaab, and sometimes wear a veil called a nikab, also known as the "ninja".
Men wear a type of sarong, which is coloured in bright bands, called a kikoi.
The founding of Mombasa is associated with two rulers: Mwana Mkisi (female) and Shehe Mvita.
According to oral history and medieval commentaries, Shehe Mvita superseded the dynasty of Mwana Mkisi and established his own town on Mombasa Island.
Shehe Mvita is remembered as a Muslim of great learning and so is connected more directly with the present ideals of Swahili culture that people identify with Mombasa.
The ancient history associated with Shehe Mvita and the founding of an urban settlement on Mombasa Island is still linked to present-day peoples living in Mombasa. The Thenashara Taifa (or Twelve Nations) Swahili lineages recount this ancient history today and are the keepers of local Swahili traditions. Even though today Mombasa is a very heterogeneous cultural mix, families associated with the Twelve Nations are still considered the original inhabitants of the city.
From 9 February 1824 to 25 July 1826, there was a British protectorate over Mombasa, represented by Governors. Omani rule was restored in 1826; seven liwalis where appointed.
On 24 June 1837, it was nominally annexed by sultan of Zanzibar and Muscat Sayyid Said bin Sultan with the assistance of Shaikh Isa bin Tarif with his tribe Original Utub Al Bin Ali. Isa bin Tarif, Chief of the Al bin Ali Al Utbi Tribe, is a descendant of the Original Utub who conquered Bahrain.
Fort Jesus in Mombasa was named after Shaikh Isa bin Tarif. The name "Jesus" in Arabic means "Isa", therefore it means the Fort of Isa (Isa bin Tarif). The Al bin Ali (the tribe of Isa bin Tarif) were a politically important group that moved backwards and forwards between Qatar and Bahrain, they were the original dominant group of Zubara area.
On 25 May 1887, its administration was relinquished to the British East Africa Association (see Kenya). The sultan formally presented the town in 1898 to the British.
It soon became the capital of the British East Africa Protectorate and is the sea terminal of the Uganda Railway, which was started in 1896. Many workers were brought in from British India to build the railway, and the city's fortunes revived.
On 1 July 1895, it became part of Britain's Kenya protectorate (the coastal strip nominally under Zanzibari sovereignty).
Mombasa was part of the state of Zanzibar until 12 December 1963 when it was ceded to be incorporated into the newly independent state of Kenya.
It might be of importance to note that the Mijikenda were invited by the three tribes of Waswahili.
The group is made up of nine closely related but distinct peoples—the Kauma, Chonyi, Jibana, Giriama, Kamabe, Ribe, Rabai, Duruma, and Digo—who live along the coast of Kenya and share a common linguistic and cultural heritage. These were later to be called Mombasaris.
Traditionally, each group lived within its own hilltop village (Kaya) on the ridge along the Kenya coast, between the towns of Kilili and Vanga.
The members of each of the nine Mijikenda groups speak a separate dialect of the same language.
That language, Mijikenda, is one of the Northeast Coastal Bantu Group of languages and is closely related linguistically and historically to other languages along the Kenyan and Tanzanian coasts.
There were an estimated 730,000 Mijikenda speakers in 1980. The largest groups of Mijikenda are the Giriama, who numbered about 350,000 in 1987, and the Duruma, with a population of approximately 190,000 in 1986. Some of the dialects are mutually intelligible; some are not.
While change has come to the Mijikenda, they have maintained many of the beliefs and practices of their traditional culture.
They have resisted the conversion attempts of Muslim and Christian missionaries to a much greater extent than many of their neighbors, and they adhere to many beliefs that were derived from their traditional religion, which was a form of ancestor worship.
They have incorporated the myth of their origins, as well as a description of their Kaya-based, stratified social structure, into a written record of their culture, which is passed on to their children.
According to a Mijikenda myth, the Mijikenda originated in Singwaya (or Shungwaya), which was to the north of the Somali coast. They lived in the interior i.e. Marafa, Magarini and Gilare etc.
However, they were driven south by the Oromo until they reached their present locations along the ridge, where they built their Kayas within a protective setting.
The historical accuracy of this myth is a point of controversy between those who believe that the Mijikenda originated from a single point in the north and those who believe that they do not have a single origin, but migrated primarily from the south.
Fort Jesus is the main attraction center and the pinnacle site of Mombasa and it defines Mombasa as it is.
The Portuguese built Fort Jesus in 1593. The site chosen was a coral ridge at the entrance to the harbor.
The Fort was designed by an Italian Architect and Engineer, Joao, Batista Cairato. The earliest known plan of the Fort is in a manuscript Atlas by Manuel Godinho de Heredia - dated 1610 which shows the original layout of the buildings inside the Fort.
Fort Jesus was built to secure the safety of Portuguese living on the East Coast of Africa.
It has had a long history of hostilities of the interested parties that used to live in Mombasa.
Perhaps no Fort in Africa has experienced such turbulence as Fort Jesus.
Omani Arabs attacked the Fort from 1696 to 1698. The state of the Fort can be understood from the plan of Rezende of 1636 and other plans by Don Alvaro - Marquis of Cienfuegas and Jose -Lopes de Sa - made during the brief reoccupation by the Portuguese in 1728 - 1729. In the Cienfuegas plan, the names of the bastions are changed.
Between 1837 and 1895, the Fort was used as barracks for the soldiers. When the British protectorate was proclaimed on the 1st of July 1895, the Fort was converted into a prison.
The huts were removed and cells were built. On the 24th October 1958, Fort Jesus was declared a National Park in the custody of the Trustees of the Kenya National Parks. Excavation was carried out and the Fort became a Museum in 1962. The Fort is now an important historical landmark in the East African region.
Fort Jesus Museum as it looks at the moment.
The Fort Jesus museum was built with a grant from the Gulbenkian Foundation.
The exhibits consist of finds from archaeological excavations at Fort Jesus, Gede, Manda, Ungwana and other sites. Other objects on display were donated by individuals notably Mrs. J.C. White, Mr. C.E. Whitton and Mrs. W.S. Marchant.
The Fort has lived through the years of hostilities and a harsh climate and is structurally well - maintained.
The first Swahili Cultural Centre was established in Mombasa in 1993 as a joint project of the NMK, International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Shortly afterwards a Centre was opened in Lamu town.
The aim of these Centres is to train young men and women from Mombasa and Lamu Old Towns in traditional Swahili crafts; more importantly, the training includes business management, which provides the youth with the much needed skills to become self-employed. Both Centres encourage micro-enterprise development for the youth in the Old Towns and in the coastal region as a whole.
Swahili Cultural Centre
The first Swahili Cultural Centre was established in Mombasa in 1993 as a joint project of the NMK, International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Shortly afterwards a Centre was opened in Lamu town.
The aim of these Centres is to train young men and women from Mombasa and Lamu Old Towns in traditional Swahili crafts; more importantly, the training includes business management, which provides the youth with the much needed skills to become self-employed.
Both Centres encourage micro-enterprise development for the youth in the Old Towns and in the coastal region as a whole.
Other Organizations in Mombasa.
P.U.S.H stands for People United to Save the Harbourline. This NGO was registered on 6th Dec 2007 with Mr. Mbwana Abdalla as its Chairman, Mr. Affan Mohamed as its treasurer and Mrs. Shahida Bashir as its Secretary.
P.U.S.H is a voluntary environmental NGO based in the Old Town of Mombasa, Kenya. We are located at the Government Square next to the Old Kilindini Harbour .It is the only NGO that is based here and working closely with the residents of the old town.
It started as a community volunteer group out to advocate for the behavioral change of its residents in the Old Town of Mombasa on issues of environmental concern in early January 2006 and has now turned to be a fully fledged NGO registered in December 2007.
It is mandated to cover the whole of the Kenyan coastline from Vanga in the southern border with Tanzania to the famous archipelagos of the Lamu Islands in the North bordering with Somalia.
It was established with the view of conservation of the harbor line in Mombasa district especially the Old Town. The Old Town or “Mji wa Kale” as it’s famously known is the pinnacle of heritage in Mombasa yet it is threatened by environmental degradation.
The coastline has been damaged so much in that garbage has accumulated and marine life has been lost in the near past. Our effort is to overcome these problems. As P.U.S.H. we have conceived ideas aimed at “incorporating partnerships between the local community, the private sector and the Government”
We as P.U.S.H have been conducting clean ups of the beach line OF Old town as a pilot program for the last 3 years since our inception to bring to the awareness of the general public the need to be more vigilant with matters pertaining to the Environment.
A recent Oceanographic survey report came out with an alarming damaging report on KENYA being the second in Africa after Nigeria in Sea polluting ranking, amounting to about 91,000 tons per year of all kind of waste including toxic materials that are extremely dangerous to the marine life.
This has caused a great concern to PUSH that has resulted in lobbying and finally granted authority to address the root cause of this menace by the City Council of Mombasa whose main cause has been the result of domestic garbage dumping produced from the households and business premises along its buffer zone.
PUSH in its efforts to clean up the Old Town have embarked on a CAMPAIGN whereby we sweep and comb the streets, clear the drainage and collect garbage from the residents and business premises so as to reduce the chances of polluting the seashore.
References:
1.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mombasa
2.http://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/883/
3.http://www.museums.or.ke/content/blogcategory/48/76/
4.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Jesus
5.http://www.everyculture.com/Africa-Middle-East/Mijikenda-Orientation.html
