Mbadamassi of Lagos: A Soldier for King and Kaiser, and a Deportee to German South West Africa

2009 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 103-124
Author(s):  
Jan-Bart Gewald
Keyword(s):  
West Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Military Service ◽  
West African ◽  
The South ◽  
The West ◽  
The North ◽  
German Army ◽  
South West ◽  
South West Africa

Abstract In 1915 troops of the South African Union Defence Force invaded German South West Africa, present day Namibia. In the north of the territory the South African forces captured an African soldier serving in the German army named Mbadamassi. Upon his capture Mbadamassi demanded to be released and claimed that he was a British national from Nigeria. In addition, he stated that he had served in the West African Frontier Force, and that he had been shanghaied into German military service in Cameroon. Furthermore, whilst serving in the German army in Cameroon, Mbadamassi claimed that he had participated in a mutiny, and that, as a consequence, he had been deported to GSWA. The article covers the remarkable military career of the African soldier, Mbadamassi, who between 1903 and 1917 served both the King of the British Empire as well as the Kaiser of the German Empire. In so doing, the article sheds light on the career of an individual African soldier serving in three colonial armies; the West African Frontier Force, the Schutztruppe in Cameroon, and the Schutztruppe in GSWA. The article argues that beyond the fact that colonial armies were institutions of repression, they also provided opportunity for those willing or condemned to serve within their ranks. Furthermore the article provides some indication as to the extent of communication that existed between colonial subjects in the separate colonies of Africa at the time. En 1915, les troupes de l'Union de l'Afrique du Sud ont envahi l'Afrique du Sud-Ouest allemande, l'actuelle Namibie. Dans le Nord du territoire, les forces sud-africaines ont capturé un soldat africain servant dans l'armée allemande nommé Mbadamassi. Celui-ci exigea d'être libéré et revendiqua être un Britannique du Nigeria. De plus, il déclara avoir servi dans la West African Frontier Force et avoir été enrôlé de force dans l'armée allemande au Cameroun. En outre, pendant qu'il servait dans l'armée allemande au Cameroun, Mbadamassi a prétendu avoir pris part à une mutinerie, ce qui avait conduit à sa déportation vers l'Afrique du Sud-Ouest allemande. Cet article couvre la remarquable carrière militaire du soldat africain Mbadamassi, qui, entre 1903 et 1917, a servi à la fois le roi de l'empire britannique et le Kaiser de l'empire allemand. Ainsi, l'article éclaire sur la carrière individuelle d'un soldat africain servant dans trois armées coloniales; la West African Frontier Force, le Schutztruppe au Cameroun et le Schutztruppe en Afrique du Sud-Ouest allemande. L'article soutient qu'au-delà du fait que les armées coloniales étaient des institutions de répression, elles ont aussi offert la possibilité à ceux qui le voulaient ou ceux qui y étaient condamnés de servir dans leurs rangs. En outre, l'article fournit une indication sur l'étendue de la communication qui a existé entre les sujets coloniaux dans les colonies d'Afrique séparées de l'époque.

scholarly journals Other Zebras

Oryx ◽  
1951 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
pp. 191-191
Author(s):  
T. J. Steyn
Keyword(s):  
West Africa ◽  
Coastal Region ◽  
The South ◽  
The North ◽  
South West ◽  
South West Africa

Although scattered and greatly reduced in numbers, Hartmann's Zebras (form(s) of Mountain Zebra) still seem to occur over practically the whole mountainous coastal region of South-West Africa, west of the Namib, from the Orange River in the south to beyond the Cunene in the north.

scholarly journals Healthcare and Warfare. Medical Space, Mission and Apartheid in Twentieth Century Northern Namibia

2014 ◽  
Vol 58 (3) ◽  
pp. 422-446
Author(s):  
Catharina Nord
Keyword(s):  
West Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
African State ◽  
Space Mission ◽  
The South ◽  
Healthcare Provision ◽  
Healthcare Facilities ◽  
Healthcare Needs ◽  
South West ◽  
South West Africa

AbstractIn the year 1966, the first government hospital, Oshakati hospital, was inaugurated in northern South-West Africa. It was constructed by the apartheid regime of South Africa which was occupying the territory. Prior to this inauguration, Finnish missionaries had, for 65 years, provided healthcare to the indigenous people in a number of healthcare facilities of which Onandjokwe hospital was the most important. This article discusses these two agents’ ideological standpoints. The same year, the war between the South-West African guerrillas and the South African state started, and continued up to 1988. The two hospitals became involved in the war; Oshakati hospital as a part of the South African war machinery, and Onandjokwe hospital as a ‘terrorist hospital’ in the eyes of the South Africans. The missionary Onandjokwe hospital was linked to the Lutheran church in South-West Africa, which became one of the main critics of the apartheid system early in the liberation war. Warfare and healthcare became intertwined with apartheid policies and aggression, materialised by healthcare provision based on strategic rationales rather than the people’s healthcare needs. When the Namibian state took over a ruined healthcare system in 1990, the two hospitals were hubs in a healthcare landscape shaped by missionary ambitions, war and apartheid logic.

Marriage among !Kung Bushmen

Africa ◽  
1959 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 335-365 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lorna Marshall
Keyword(s):  
West Africa ◽  
The West ◽  
The North ◽  
South West ◽  
South West Africa ◽  
Opening Paragraph

Opening ParagraphBecause within the area we indicate by shading on the map the !Kung Bushmen intermarry among themselves, by custom and preference, members of the Harvard Peabody Smithsonian Kalahari Expeditions needed a convenient way of referring to that area as a unit and arbitrarily called it the region of Nyae Nyae.Nyae Nyae is a corruption of the !Kung name //Nua!ei. The name Nyae Nyae refers strictly to a group of pans in South West Africa (S.W.A.) centred approximately at Gautscha Pan at about 19° 48′ 30″ S, 20° 34′ 36″ E. We extend the application of the name to an area around the pans of about 10,000 square miles, lying for the most part in S.W.A. but reaching some miles over the border of the Bechuanaland Protectorate (B.P.). There are no strictly conceived boundaries around the area. We can only vaguely define it by saying that it does not include Karakuwise to the west or Chadum to the north. It does not, we think, reach eastward much farther than Kai Kai, or southward much beyond Blaubush Pan (40 or 50 miles south of Gam).

Comunicación de Sudáfrica: relativa a la adhesión del Consejo de las Naciones Unidas para Namibia a los cuatro Convenios de Ginebra y a los dos Protocolos adicionales

1984 ◽  
Vol 9 (66) ◽  
pp. 365-366
Keyword(s):  
West Africa ◽  
International Law ◽  
South African ◽  
South African Government ◽  
The South ◽  
African Government ◽  
Geneva Conventions ◽  
South West ◽  
Legal Effect ◽  
South West Africa

El 12 de marzo de 1984, la República de Sudáfrica, Estado Parte en los Convenios de Ginebra, depositó ante el Gobierno suizo la siguiente comunicación, fechada el 24 de febrero de 1984:Accession to the aforementioned Geneva Conventions and Protocols is governed by an identically worded article which stipulates that « From the date of its coming into force, it shall be open to any Power in whose name the present Convention has not been signed, to accede to this Convention ».Since South West Africa/Namibia cannot, in terms of international law, be regarded as such a Power and since neither it nor the UN Council for Namibia is able to assume the obligations imposed upon such Power by the four Geneva Conventions, the South African Government rejects the so-called instruments of accession of the UN Council for Namibia to the four Geneva Conventions and its two Additional Protocols as having no legal effect.

International Court of Justice

1964 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 599-603
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
West Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Time Limit ◽  
The South ◽  
International Court Of Justice ◽  
Court Of Justice ◽  
South West ◽  
International Court ◽  
South West Africa

South West Africa cases (Ethiopia v. South Africa; Liberia v. South Africa): By an order of February 5, 1963, the President of the International Court of Justice fixed September 30, 1963, as the time limit for the filing of the South African countermemorial in the South West Africa cases. At the request of the government of South Africa, the Court in its order of September 18, 1963, extended this time limit to January 10, 1964. By its order of January 20, 1964, the International Court noted that the South African countermemorial had been filed, and it fixed as time limits June 20, 1964, for the filing of the replies of Ethiopia and Liberia; and November 20, 1964, for the filing of the rejoinder by South Africa

scholarly journals THE OFFENCE OF BEING FOUND IN DISGUISE IN SUSPICIOUS CIRCUMSTANCES

Obiter ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shannon Hoctor
Keyword(s):  
West Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Police Officers ◽  
Law Reform ◽  
The South ◽  
South West ◽  
Current Formulation ◽  
South West Africa

The statutory criminal prohibition on the use of disguises in suspicious circumstances has a venerable history in South African law. A form of this offence can be found in the pre-Union legislation (as well as in s 9(2) of Proclamation 27 of 1920 and s 3(2) of Proclamation 5 of 1937 of the former South West Africa). It is noteworthy that there are very few reported cases dealing with the various forms of this offence. Nevertheless it is evident that the offence serves an important function. In its review of various statutes relating to justice, the South African Law Reform Commission comments, in respect of the current formulation of this offence found in section 1 of the Prohibition of Disguises Act (16 of 1969), that “it enables police officers to approach persons in suspicious circumstances, which could prevent crime occurring, for example, masked persons outside a bank”, and consequently it is recommended by the SALRC that the offence should therefore be retained.

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