By Masimba Mukichi
To be honest I am kind of smitten by African names particularly of cities in Africa. I am intrinsically motivated to leave no stone un turned to find out why these stand-alone, tongue twisting names of cities in Africa came into being. I want to unveil the concealed history of the names given to these modern cities of Africa. I have set myself the task of tracing the origins of these names and their meanings – In my quest to unveil their meanings and origins convincingly I shall dwell on the selected few African cities of the African continent.
My first port of call is Southern Africa – to be precise Mbabane the capital city of Swaziland. Mbabane city is located on the Mbabane River and its tributary the Polinjane River in the Mdzimba Mountains. It derives its name from Chief, Mbabane Kunene, who lived in the area before the British settlers arrived. In reality Mbabane City was named after the local chief. It is alleged that the Swazis were jealous of the Boers but friendlier to the British.
From Swaziland I found myself in Gaborone – the capital city of Botswana – Gaborone means it does not fit badly or it is not unbecoming. The city has no tribal affiliation but was chosen simply of its proximity to fresh water.
From Gaborone I drove into Harare – the capital city of Zimbabwe. Harare simply means one who never sleeps – this was the name originally given to the Zezuru Chief of the north eastern part of Zimbabwe. His name was Chief Harava, who once lived at the Harare Kopje area.
From Harare I flew into Lusaka – the capital city of Zambia. Lusaka was named after a local headman Lusaka who lived at Manda Hill – Manda in the Nyanja language means graveyard. The hill is near where the Zambia’s National Assembly building now stands. Living Zambia I then flew to Kinshasa the capital and the largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Kinshasa was named after a fishing village which once stood at the site. Traditionally it belongs to the Bateke and Bahumbu people.
Living Kinshasa I flew to Dodoma – the capital of Tanzania. Dodoma in Chigogo means it has sunk. However oral tradition believes that the name Dodoma came into being after an elephant which came to drink at a Kikuyu stream got stuck in the mud and the local people who saw it shouted, “Idodomoya” from then on the place became known as Dodoma – the place where it sank. Dodoma as the capital city of Tanzania is more convenient and central to the country.
Living the beauties of Tanzania I flew to Kampala – the largest and capital city of Uganda. Historically the area where Kampala stands today, the King of Buganda once lived there, the area had plenty of wild animals therefore it was an ideal hunting ground for the king and his subjects. When the British settlers arrived in the area, they named the place, the Hill of the Impala due to large presence of impala. The Buganda people adopted the soundings of English words into their language hence K’empala formally became Kampala and the city start to grow as the capital of the Buganda kingdom – as of now it is a vibrant commercial hub of Uganda.
I decided to end my fact finding mission in West Africa, the political capital of Africa, Addis Ababa – the capital city of Ethiopia and the headquarters of the African Union. It also has offices at Africa Hall for the United Nations Economic Commission on Africa. The site of Addis Ababa was chosen by Empress Taytu Betul in 1886 by her husband, Emperor Menelik II. Addis Ababa means New Flower in the African language of Amharic. The city is at the city of Hot Springs.
The history of the origins of the African cities is intriguing from Southern Africa to West Africa It must be noted that most of the cities were named after their local chiefs – this shows that the Africans in particular revered their chiefs to the extent of naming their cities in their memories. In this article only Gaborone was named independent of the local chief.
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