Kwihara Livingstone Tembe

The Kwihara Livingstone Tembe stands as a powerful monument to a pivotal era in African history. Built in 1857, this flat-roofed house embodies the complex intersection of the East African slave trade, European exploration, and the abolitionist movement.

Said Salim Mohamed, an Arab slave trader nicknamed, by the locals, “Muyombazelele” (“the one who talks too much”), erected this Tembe as more than just a residence. It functioned as a major inland collection point for the brutal East African slave trade. At its height, up to 200 enslaved people were held here awaiting transport to Bagamoyo and ultimately the auction blocks of Mkunazini, Zanzibar. These captives came from across the coast to central Africa –  present-day Congo, Kigoma, Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, Lake Victoria, and Ufipa regions.

Livingstone’s mission vs the slave trade

Into this environment stepped Dr. David Livingstone, the renowned missionary and staunch abolitionist. Upon arriving in Zanzibar, Livingstone immediately freed several enslaved people, who provided him with vital knowledge about slave routes into the interior. With some of these freed individuals accompanying him, Livingstone sailed to Bagamoyo and trekked inland to Tabora.

When Livingstone reached the Tembe, a dramatic clash of ideologies unfolded. Despite their fundamental differences, Mohamed offered the explorer lodging. During Livingstone’s stay, Mohamed proposed that Livingstone join the lucrative slave trade – a suggestion Livingstone vehemently rejected. His strong condemnation reportedly drove Mohamed to temporarily relocate to Ufipa to continue his operations, while Livingstone followed the grim slave routes toward Ujiji.

The search for Livingstone

Livingstone’s prolonged absence prompted his European sponsors to dispatch a search party led by Henry Morton Stanley and John William Shaw. Reaching Zanzibar, they learned of Livingstone’s journey inland and followed his trail to Itetemia. Discovering Livingstone had moved on to Ujiji, Stanley spent three months at the Tembe in 1871, hoping Arab forces would defeat King Mirambo of the Nyamwezi people and reopen the trade route to Lake Tanganyika.

When Mirambo’s forces prevailed, Stanley took a circuitous journey to reach Livingstone at Ujiji. Tragically, Shaw fell ill during the journey and returned to the Tembe to recover. Unable to reunite with Stanley and Livingstone, he ultimately took his own life there. Shaw’s grave remains near the Tembe, along the old slave route.

Historic returns and departures

After their famous meeting at Ujiji on November 10, 1871, Livingstone and Stanley returned together to the Tembe on February 18, 1872. During this stay, Livingstone wrote significant journal entries, later collected as the Unyanyembe Journal, which inspired further European exploration of Africa. Stanley departed on March 14, 1872, for Bagamoyo, while Livingstone embarked on his final journey on August 25, 1872 – a journey that would end with his death in Zambia in 1873.

Years earlier, in 1857-58, the Tembe had briefly hosted other notable explorers: John Speke and Richard Burton passed through Tabora on their expedition to find the source of the Nile, guided by a local translator named Side Mubaraka Bombay, whose skills were later recognized by the Arab community.

Tembe’s transformation

After Livingstone’s departure, Mohamed and the Arab traders returned in 1875 and resumed the slave trade until German colonizers arrived in 1885 and abolished the practice. The Germans purchased the Tembe for 300 rupees and repurposed it as an administration building. Following World War I, the British continued its administrative use until 1956, when they renovated the building, replacing its clay roof with a metal one. The Tembe’s historical significance was officially recognized in 1957 when Governor Twinning attended the 100th anniversary of its construction.

Today, the Kwihara Livingstone Tembe preserves the following layers of history that visitors can explore:

• Livingstone’s original letters and personal quarters
• Said Salim Mohamed’s living spaces
• The site where John William Shaw met his tragic end
• Historical accounts of the Livingstone-Stanley expedition
• Exhibitions showing the cramped conditions endured by enslaved people
• Artifacts, including shackles, instruments of punishment, and guard rooms
• Depictions of slave columns and local figures like King Mirambo and his Rugaruga warriors
• Preserved strands of Livingstone’s hair