Umekosea Shimo

In the dark night of 1996, in a quiet area of Dar es Salaam near a primary school and closed market stalls, silence blankets the streets. Only distant music plays faintly, mixed with the heavy smell of cannabis smoke wafting through the air. Electric poles nearby hold black-and-white flyers announcing a large religious meeting hosted by the famed Pastor Dickson Mwanda, a rare figure known for miraculous healings.

Seated on a closed market bench, a young man dressed in a white t-shirt, blue jeans, and white rubber shoes holds a lit cannabis cigarette in his right hand while rubbing his forehead anxiously with the left. His face shows deep pain mixed with anger. Around twenty to twenty-four years old, he mutters with bitter frustration about those who have wronged him deeply.

Counting the money he has in his pocket—mostly 50, 20, and 100 Tanzanian shilling notes—he calculates seven thousand shillings and plots vengeance. "I'll go to the herbalist, have them turn all of them into chickens, then I'll buy and slaughter them myself and feed them to the dogs," he says angrily, his mind swirling with rage.

Suddenly, a young woman around 22 or 23 years old walks in the dimly lit area. She wears similar clothes to him—a white t-shirt, jeans, and black rubber shoes—and carries a camera in her hand. He watches closely as she moves from the darker school side toward the lighted street, noting her anxious and fearful expression.

The young man ponders whether she is one of those women involved in illicit businesses, troubled and trapped in a dangerous life. As he observes, two men in black suits emerge, chasing the woman who suddenly flees back toward where she came. The pursuers pass right by the young man with disdainful eyes. Their words sharp and accusing stir anger in him, yet he's unable to act as they move past him and disappear into the shadows, muttering ominously about the fate of a 'stoner' like himself.