Vazi la Taifa

Jioni moja, mwezi uliopita, nikiwa natembea kwenye mtaa moja eneo la Sinza, Dar es Salaam, nilikutana na m-Maasai. Aliniuliza iwapo nimekutana na wa-Maasai wawili kwenye njia hiyo niliyotokea. Nilimwambia kuwa sijakutana nao. Tutafakari suali la huyu m-Maasai. Ni wazi alijua kuwa m-Maasai anafahamika popote alipo. Mavazi yake yanamtambulisha. Ndio maana aliniuliza alivyoniuliza. Huwezi ukamwuliza mtu Dar es Salaam iwapo amekutana na wa-Nyakyusa wawili, au wa-Chagga wawili, au wa-Matengo wawili. Hawatambuliki kama anavyotambulika m-Maasai. Picha niliyoweka hapa, ambayo inawatambulisha hao watu wawili, niliipiga Morogoro, eneo la stendi kuu ya dala dala. Nawajibika kusema kuwa kuhusu suala hili la vazi la Taifa, wa-Tanzania tumepotea njia, kama walivyopotea wengine wengi kuanzia enzi za ukoloni. Kuna jambo ambalo tunaweza kujifunza kutoka kwa wa-Maasai. Katika kutafakari suala hili, turejee kwenye kauli ya Frantz Fanon, mwanafalsafa na mtaalam wa masuala ya jamii, hasa zile zilizoathirika na ukoloni, ambaye tulikuwa tunamsoma sana enzi za ujana wetu, lakini sijui kama wa-Tanzania wa leo wanamsoma. Anasema hivi: The way people clothe themselves, together with the traditions of dress and finery that custom implies, constitutes the most distinctive form of a society's uniqueness, that is to say the one that is the most immediately perceptible.... It is by their apparel that types of society first become known, whether through written accounts and photographic records or motion pictures. Thus, there are civilizations without neckties, civilizations with loin-cloths, and others without hats. The fact of belonging to a given cultural group is usually revealed by clothing traditions....(Frantz Fanon, A Dying Colonialism, trans. Haakon Chevalier, New York: Grove Weidenfeld, 1965, uk.35).