OUT OF AFRICA: MERVYN MACIEL AND THE GOAN CONTRIBUTION

by Frederick Noronha
fredericknoronha@gmail.com

Mervyn Maciel sees himself as a Kenyan-born Goan. This septuagenarian loved the African bush, and had a particular fascination for the tribes. Some years back he penned 'Bwana Karani' (Merlin, UK, 1985), a personal narrative of two decades in East Africa. The title literally translates as 'Mister Clerk', the humble capacity in which he started his working career in Kenya.

Joining the Kenya Civil Service in 1947, Maciel worked his way up from junior clerk to senior executive. When his post was ‘Africanised’ in 1966, he moved with his wife Elsie and their four children to the UK, where he worked in various managerial capacities in the private sector.

Now retired, Maciel’s days are taken up with social work for various charities, writing and even cooking Goan specialties. After their golden wedding anniversary, the Maciels grow their own produce. Elsie was the first Goan to have a Goan cookery book published in the U.K in 1983.

Maciel estimates that at one point of time there were between 18-20,000 Goans in East Africa. Of these, some were in the Administration while others worked for various government departments. Many more worked in the private sector i.e. banking, commerce etc. A small number went into business e.g. grocers, tailors, etc. while some were professionals like doctors, teachers, lawyers and musicians.

Following independence many, like Maciel, left because of political changes and for the betterment of their children’s future. Some returned to Goa, while others emigrated to Europe (chiefly the UK), Canada, Australia and even the USA.

Maciel never loses an opportunity to try to set the record straight on the tremendous Goan contribution to the civil service in colonial East Africa. At the invitation of Sir John Johnson he contributed a chapter on the topic in the recently published book “Colony to Nation”. Recently, at a luncheon hosted at Henley-on-Thames, he gave a speech to some 100 former British colonials of the Kenya Administration and their wives, reminding them that Goans too had played a role in building the Kenya Nation.

In his speech, Maciel said, "Why we, former members of the Administration were excluded from membership (of the elitist Kenya Administration Club) for nearly 30 years, is something I find difficult to understand. You obviously had your reasons, but with so few of us in the U.K., I can assure you, you wouldn't have been swamped, nor would there have been any takeover bid.

"Unfortunately, our (the Goan) contribution in the civil service, more particularly the Provincial Administration, although verbally acknowledged in speeches by former Governors, senior officials and even politicians, has only recently, save with a few exceptions, merited a mention in some published works."

According to Maciel, all memoirs by former white Colonial officials spoke only of the European achievement as though the Goans hardly existed. Many, it seems, chose to forget that during their early service careers, it was the Goans who 'showed them the ropes', even though they had no training themselves!

Highlighting the Goan contribution, Maciel says that the majority of posts in the Administration, especially those of cashier, were filled almost exclusively by Goans, apparently much to the annoyance of the other Asian communities. The distinguished Q.C., J.S. Mangat, in telling how Goans in particular dominated the Administration, cites Sir Charles Eliot who in an official report in 1901 had this to say: "The District officers were usually assisted by a Goan or more rarely a European clerk. In the coastal towns there was also a Customs official, usually a Goan; even the Germans envied the British Administration for their Goan staff who they observed 'have enough experience to avoid incurring the distrust which so many of our members inspire'."

Mangat then went on to quote from a D.C.'s report which spoke of the trust one could place in the Goans, adding, "All the names mentioned by the D.C. are Goan (Fernandes, Ferreira, Braganca, Menezes)." He must have forgotten the D'Souzas.

When Winston Churchill visited Kenya in his capacity as Under Secretary of State for the Colonies, a delegation of White settlers protested against the employment of Goans in the Administration.

In 1934 a Committee was instructed to look into the possibility of employing European clerks, and this is briefly what they had to say:

"We have given consideration as to whether increased economy and efficiency could be attained by the more general employment of European clerks, and our opinion is in the negative. We have been favourably impressed by the dedication with which the majority of Goan clerks do the work required of them, and also of their conspicuous loyalty and willingness to work overtime, and their fixed determination to finish at all costs the work that has to be done. It would be out of the question to employ in District offices, European clerks other than those of the highest integrity and proven ability, and in any case the salaries they would demand would be much higher than those paid to the Goans."

Replying to a question by this writer on why there were very few Goans who took the side of the Africans in the de-colonialism struggle, Maciel suggests that most Goans of that era were not political animals. Besides, those who like him were in the civil service could not join any political party or express their views.

However, there were a few exceptions like Pio Gama Pinto, and his brother Rosario (a good friend of Maciel’s), whose veins 'flowed with political blood'. They risked all to further the cause they believed in and, as in the case of Pio, sadly, paid the price.

Fritz D'Souza and Oscar Fonseca were two others who had political leanings. Maciel thinks it was the Indians, rather than the Goans, who agitated about being given a voice in the Legislative Council. Jomo Kenyatta did include some Goan blood into his first Cabinet by appointing Joseph Zuzarte, son of a Goan District Clerk (Peter Zuzarte) as his right hand man. Joseph Zuzarte – or Joseph Murumbi as he chose to go as -- served in Kenyatta's first cabinet as Foreign Minister, Minister of State in the PM's office and even Vice-President.

For those interested in the topic, Maciel says he found two tomes "Through Open Doors" (first published in 1983) and "We Came in Dhows" (three masterly volumes published in 1996) by his good friend and author Cynthia Salvadori, a real asset.

Maciel can be reached at mervyn@bwana-karani.freeserve.co.uk or at mervynels.watuwashamba@googlemail.com
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Frederick Noronha (42) is a Goa-based journalist, photo-enthusiast, book reviewer, Free Software proponent, ICT4D (information and communication technology for development) campaigner, copyleft backer, and believer in the need to build social capital. He has been long associated with Goanet (www.goanet.org) as a volunteer, through which network he circulated many of his "brieFNcounters" interviews.