Service in the Police Mobile Force Zanzibar

1963 in a age of 16 years with the wish of my parents I had to enter the Police Mobile Force in Zanzibar to serve for my country. At that time the barrarcs were situated in Mtoni, 4 miles in the north of Stonetown.

The idea of my parents was to give me at least an education there and they thought in the police I will not go astray as a young boy. They hoped that I will learn disciplin and some skills they will help me in my further life.

The understanding came later

The first months were very hard for me, because I was not used to be separated from my family. I was young and wanted to enjoy the life in town and wanted to be together with my friends. In the beginning I could not see that my parents wanted to help me and push me on the right track. This understanding came much later!

After I got used to my new situation, I started to like somehow the new life in the barracs. Most fun for me were the parades and also to fullfill the salt course, where I jumped like a monkey from palm tree to palm tree. I was very sporty at that time. So all these exercises were easy for me and I scoored very good. This gave me a plus on my self-confidence. Another advantage was that I got also a sallery of 100 shilling – at that time a lot of money for a young man like me.