"One summer evening, about half past five in the Upanga area, one of Tanganyika's political heroes and activists during my visit paid me a lot but another one included a statue of a Soldier or a Soldier's tower at the Post Office.
The history of the tower dates back to early 1889, then before and after the first world war until the second world war.
In short, the first statue to live there is the statue of Herman Von Wissman, the German Governor who is remembered for carrying out the abduction and assassination of Abushir ibn Salim Al Harthi of Pangani Tanga.
After abducting and strangling Abushiri, Von Wissman returned to Germany and was later appointed Governor of the German occupied East Africa.
He took the city of Dar es Salaam all along the coast. Although he stayed in Dar es Salaam for a while.
The governor conducted a study to find out where the center of Dar es Salaam was. That is, in the middle of the city by measure, he then discovered the area at the Post Office and then said that a garden should be built and his statue erected.
"It is alleged that it was in the middle of Dar es Salaam."
It is believed that he was the one who came up with the idea of building a map for the German army barracks or the area in what was then called the Carrier Forces (Swahili for Keriakoo / kariakoo).
That is why you will see the streets of Kariakoo straight and well-built. They were military camps.
So after the First World War and the British conquered and occupied the colony of Tanganyika, in 1916 the statue of Mr. Von Wissman was removed and replaced with the statue of the Black Soldier in 1927 as a token of appreciation for those who fought in that war.
The history of the Soldier tower or statue at the post office was given to me by Elder Abbas Abdulwahid Sykes at his Upanga home several years ago.
Goodluck Mlinga, a CCM MP for Ulanga Morogogoro, who filed a motion in Parliament demanding that the government demolish the statue and build a statue of the musician Diamond, should be assisted or avoided by the heavy burden of representing the people before the decision-making bodies. a treasure trove of knowledge and history to draw that knowledge from them, as some we cannot find in books or Google.
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