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Global Partners in East Africa
Joseph Mbele, St. Olaf College
Osale Otango: An Outlaw Hero
In the summer of 2002, I got a travel grant from the Global Partners for
preliminary fieldwork on Osale Otango, an outlaw hero who operated in
the northeastern part of what is today Tanzania. I had been studying African
and other epic traditions since the nineteen seventies, including doing
fieldwork on epics in Kenya and Tanzania. I had heard about Osale Otango.
I knew he was some kind of outlaw, but I was not aware of any research
about him.
My special interest in epic heroes drove me to decide to study Osale Otango.
Over the years, I have come to appreciate not only the diverse manifestations
of the heroic in different cultures, but also the complex relationships
that exist between the hero, the villain, the outlaw, and the trickster.
The overlaps, similarities and dialectical transformations involving these
categories have driven me to look further and further afield. Naturally,
Osale Otango aroused my passionate curiosity.
Arriving in Tanga on July 8, 2002, I quickly learned that Osale Otango’s
exploits are very well known in various parts of Tanga region. Osale Otango
appeared and became active in Tanga region in the nineteen fifties, during
the time of British rule. He used to harass the European settlers in the
region. There are people who knew him, and there are many places associated
with his adventures, such as Mombo, Muheza, the Amboni Caves, in which
he used to hide, and Lushoto, where he was shot and killed by a policeman.
I learned that Osale Otango had an associate, Paulo Hamisi, a native of
Lushoto.
Osale Otango is a great legend, whose many exploits need to be recorded
and studied. The tradition about Osale Otango throws light on the history
of the period. I was surprised to learn that there is a connection between
Osale Otango and the Mau Mau uprising in Kenya, a connection that I have
not seen in the literature on Mau Mau. My research on Osale Otango will
introduce to the world a very important figure in African history and
folklore about whom virtually nothing has been published. Having studied
and written about outlaw heroes like Robin Hood, Jesse James, and Ned
Kelly, I know very well that the Osale Otango tradition will yield invaluable
material for comparative studies of the outlaw hero.
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