Houseboy for forty years

By Kikonyogo Ngatya Deep gullies run down the wrinkled face of Musa Mohammed alias Mjomba (uncle)as he flashes his warm welcoming smile. As I approach him, his eyes immediately get filled with warm tears . Mjomba is my new acquaintance. He likes calling me paparazzi, jokingly, whenever he sees me with a notebook and a pen. Mheshimiwa, I refer to him, a Swahili word for honourable. Mjomba is a houseboy. He has been a houseboy for the last 40 years under different European bosses. He puts up in a posh house in Muyenga, a few kilometers outside Kampala City. His compound is filled up with beautiful roses and well-trimmed trees that whistle to the tunes of the breeze from lake Victoria, a few metres away. Mjomba is quite old, perhaps in his late 70's, although he is not sure of his age. People he has brought up during his years on the jobs talk of him as a very good and understanding individual. "He is a very straightforward gentleman who has always been there for our family," says Liz Walker, who has seen Mohammed for the last thirty years. Although he is a very charming and welcoming person, this time, I quickly noticed the glow of his smile fading away faster than usual. I later learnt that he had buried his boss, Joseph Roche a week before. Joseph Roche, was his boss for the last three decades and had spoken of Mjomba as a very good man during an interview before his death. "We are now brothers. When I fall sick, he is there for me," Roche said then. Mjomba has always had the admiration and love of the people around him. Hardly a minute passes by without a passerby calling out his name. Children and adults alike enjoy the company of the slender, dark tall guy. Some want to hear him speak his Kiswahili, while others, especially children enjoy touching his unique ears. Mjomba has ears with a fine round big hole in the middle of the pinna. He says his grandma pierced them while he was still young for defence purposes. "This is the culture of my people. While asleep I am able to hear whatever someone plots against me," he says. Mjomba is a Tanzanian born in Musasani- Mikoroshoni, Dar-es- Salaam. He was the last born and only boy in a family of four. He first worked in Dar es Salaam, and Nairobi as a shamba boy. "I love this job but I can tell you it is quite a challenge," he says. He has specialised and gained experience over the years in the preparation of different European dishes. He can make bread, cakes, samosas, and pizzas, among others. His job has made him rub shoulders with powerful and rich people. Last year, Mjomba was recognised by the Rotary Club of Muyenga for his faithfulness and good service to the community and his employer. The Rotary Club gave him a 14-inch black and white television set for having a heart of serving above self. Mr. Mpuuma, one of the rotarians and his neighbour speaks of him as a man of perfection. During the war when most of his bosses fled the country, Mohammed stayed inside that house with all the property, without selling anything, he recalls. "He is a man of rare faithful character," he added. However, the smile on his face is not what is in his soul. My friend has been to school for only one day in his entire life. He admires primary school going children and says he wants to go back to school and start in primary one. "At least to learn the English language and how to count my money," he said. Some people have taken advantage of him because he is uneducated; finds problems communicating to his bosses in English. The late Roche said although his wife did not know Swahili, they always had a way of going about their business. Roche spoke some good swahili and the two would chat. Mjomba has gone through a lot of trials and troubles in his life, as a child and on his job in a foreign land. He is more than disillusioned. He never experienced the love of his mum like most other children do. He has no idea how she looked like. Mjomba's mum died at his birth. His dad, who he was told was a mechanic, died on the very day the mum died. "On learning bout the death of my mum, I am told, my father got a heart attack and died on the spot," he narrated. The four children were brought up by their grand parents . This touch of a family life as a child did not last for long. The sisters suffered from malaria during a severe outbreak and all died within one month. A few years later before he could start school, both his grand parents died in a fatal accident, with no one to turn to. Mjomba presented his request to undergo Qu'ran lessons near his home, free of charge. When he was enrolled, his teacher was knocked dead by a car the following day. That was the end of his studies. "It was then that I made the decision to leave home and find a job so as to survive," Mjomba ponders. "I made many friends in Dar es Salaam. One of my best friends- Alimas was a bus conductor with Tanzania bus service. He was so good to me. I stayed with him for five years. He introduced me to a white man- John Brek who he had asked to find me a job in his company. By then, Alimas had left the job of conductor and was being trained in the preparation of European dishes for the bus company bosses. Brek lived in Oyster Bay, one of the posh places, a few miles outside Dar es Salaam City. Mjomba was to work with Alimas and learn how to cook. Alimas was transferred to Nairobi in 1963 also to work as shamba boy doubling as a cook for the bus company. Mjomba replaced Alimas and worked for some years, before being transferred to Nairobi to work as a shamba boy. After three years, the bus operations extended to Uganda. Mjomba followed his boss, Brek to Kampala. They first lived in Nakawa, before his boss acquired a house in Makerere. Mjomba worked for Brek till the 1979 war, when Brek fled back to Britain. He gave all the properties he had to Mjomba and two buses to transport his luggage to Dar es Salaam. "I felt I had had all my dreams fulfilled," he said. Unfortunately, all the properties and money was looted. Mjomba recalls that ugly morning and he nods. The very drivers that were supposed to take him to Dar gave him high doses of sleeping pills in sodas. He was made to sleep for almost two days. On waking up, every thing was gone. He remained with only one shirt and a short to show for all the years he had worked for. "I knew I was returning home and establish my self after being on foreign land. I was wrong," he said. Years later, while working with Roche, Mjomba came across the true love of his heart. The lady of his dream was a servant of Roche too. The two got engaged and were blessed with a son, Musa Mohammed. The marriage however, did not end on a good note. During one of the seven operations Mjomba has undergone, he was admitted to Nsambya Hospital after an operation for six months. He says the beauty did not step there to take care of him for all that long. On being discharged, Mjomba's companion was expecting another man's child. This did not go well with him, they chose to part. Musa Mohammed Jr currently goes to school and is in primary five in a nearby school. Mjomba says his only hope is in his boy. He has earned millions of shillings in his life and acquired loads of property. However, he can hardly show anything of this. The house in which he lives today is not his, it belongs to his late master, Roche. Roche was Brek's best friend. Before Brek returned to Britain, he had recommended Mjomba to him to work for him. For his last 30 years, Mjomba has been working with Roche, who died some three weeks ago. Mjomba now has a new boss. However, he has become sickly of recent. He has undergone seven operations. He is not so sure what his next move after losing his friend is despite being highly preoccupied with nostalgia. He does not really hate his home but he knows there is a lot of bad luck there. In his over 40 years in Uganda, he visited home in Dar during his leave. On reaching a cock and goat were slaughtered for him by his uncle. Before he could taste the dishes, his uncle fell from a tall coconut tree, while getting a few pods for the Mjomba and died instantly. "Man, this world! Instead of enjoying the leave it turned out for a funeral, after two days, I had to come back. I fear it could be the same case if I go back," he said. Some of the late Roche's children, currently living in Uganda said they would do anything to help the poor man. Additional reporting by Joan Mugenzi