East Africa’s Askari monuments — Honouring African soldiers who served in WWI
What do these three East African cities — Nairobi, Dar es Salaam and Mombasa — have in common?
Well, if you reside in these cities, you most likely have come across some mysterious bronze monuments without fully appreciating their significance.
Spread across these East African cities, these Askari monuments, as they are popularly referred to, were erected in the 1920s to honor native African troops who participated in WWI.
While crisscrossing the cities, the relic hunter in me sparked my interest to stop by them and capture some memorable postcards.
Nairobi, Kenya
Located at the heart of the city on Kenyatta Avenue, in front of Standard Chartered Bank building, and overlooking Bank of India, this Askari monument was erected in 1928 in honour of the Kings African Rifles and Carrier Corps who served in WWI (1914–1918).
Inscribed on the monument, in both English and Swahili are the words:
“THIS IS TO THE MEMORY OF THE NATIVE AFRICAN TROOPS WHO FOUGHT: TO THE CARRIERS WHO WERE THE FEET AND HANDS OF THE ARMY: AND TO ALL OTHER MEN WHO SERVED AND DIED FOR THEIR KING AND COUNTRY IN THE EASTERN AFRICA IN THE GREAT WAR. 1914–1918
IF YOU FIGHT FOR YOUR COUNTRY, EVEN IF YOU DIE, YOUR SONS WILL REMEMBER YOUR NAME.”
“HAYA NI MAKUMBUSHO YA ASKARI WA NTI ZA HUKU AFRICA WALIOPIGANA KATIKA VITA PAMOJA NA WATUKUZI WALIOKUWA NA MAGUU NA MIKONO YA HAO ASKARI NA WATU WOTE WENGINE WALIOTUMIKA WAKAFA KWA AJILI YA MFALME WAO NA NTI ZA MASHARIKI YA AFRICA KATIKA VITA VIKUBWA. 1914–1918.
UKIIPIGANIA NCHI YAKO, HATA UKIFA, WANAO WATALIKUMBUKA JINA LAKO.”
Designed by British sculptor James Alexander Stevenson (1881–1937) in 1924, the three bronze Askaris represent a porter, a fighting Askari (soldier), and a gun carrier.
The right hand side of the monument bears an insignia with the name “Myrander SC, 1924”, the designer’s pseudonym.
The three Askaris are interestingly not mentioned by name, outrightly evoking sentiments from W.E.B DuBois’ book “The World and Africa and Color and Democracy,” where DuBois explores Africa’s and Africans contributions to, and neglect from world history.
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
The Askari Monument in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, just like the version in Nairobi, is a memorial to the Tanganyikan soldiers who fought in the British Carrier Corps in WWI.
The monument is located in Dar es Salaam downtown — at the center of a roundabout between Samora Avenue and Maktaba Street.
Designed by the same sculptor who designed the Nairobi one (it is signed by the same pseudonym “Myrander”), this bronze solo statue was unveiled in 1927.
The soldier holds a rifle with a bayonet pointed towards the Dar es Salaam harbor. The monument stands on a pedestal, and inscribed on the monument in both Swahili (Arabic and Latin script) and English are similar words to those on Nairobi’s Askari monument.
“IF YOU FIGHT FOR YOUR COUNTRY, EVEN IF YOU DIE, YOUR SONS WILL REMEMBER YOUR NAME.”
On the sides of the pedestal are two pictorial plaques displaying fighting African soldiers and the Carrier Corps.
This Askari Monument replaced that of another statue of a German explorer and army Major Hermann von Wissmann’s, which was located here. Wissmann was the governor of German East Africa in the late 19th century. When the British landed in Dar es Salaam in 1916, they demolished Wissmann’s statue alongside that of Karl Peters’ and Otto von Bismarck’s.
Mombasa, Kenya
Just like the other versions in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam, Mombasa’s Askari is dedicated to the East African Arabs and African Askaris, porters and carrier corps of WWI.
This monument of a foursome is located on Jomo Kenyatta Avenue in Mwembe Tayari area.
The inscriptions on the monument in both Swahili (Arabic and Latin script) and English bear similar words to those on Nairobi’s and Dar es Salaam’s Askari monuments.
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