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The Speed of Change: Motor Vehicles and People in Africa, 1890-2000 Gewald, J.B.; Luning, S.W.J.; Walraven, K

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The Speed of Change: Motor Vehicles and People in Africa, 1890-2000 Gewald, J.B.; Luning, S.W.J.; Walraven, K The speed of change: motor vehicles and people in Africa, 1890-2000 Gewald, J.B.; Luning, S.W.J.; Walraven, K. van Citation Gewald, J. B., Luning, S. W. J., & Walraven, K. van. (2009). The speed of change: motor vehicles and people in Africa, 1890-2000. Leiden: Brill. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/1887/20392 Version: Not Applicable (or Unknown) License: Leiden University Non-exclusive license Downloaded from: https://hdl.handle.net/1887/20392 Note: To cite this publication please use the final published version (if applicable). The speed of change Afrika-Studiecentrum Series The speed of change Motor vehicles and people in Africa, 1890-2000 Edited by Jan-Bart Gewald, Sabine Luning & Klaas van Walraven Brill, 2009 Editorial Board ISSN: ISBN: Dedicated to Stefan Elders † Contents List of photographs ix List of maps x Preface xi MOTOR VEHICLES AND PEOPLE IN AFRICA: AN INTRODUCTION 1 Jan-Bart Gewald, Sabine Luning & Klaas van Walraven PART I: HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES 1 PEOPLE, MINES AND CARS: TOWARDS A REVISION OF ZAMBIAN HISTORY, 1890-1930 21 Jan-Bart Gewald 2 MOTORCARS AND MODERNITY: PINING FOR PROGRESS IN PORTUGUESE GUINEA, 1915-1945 48 Philip J. Havik 3. VEHICLE OF SEDITION: THE ROLE OF TRANSPORT WORKERS IN SAWABA’S REBELLION IN NIGER, 1954-1966 75 Klaas van Walraven PART II: ECONOMIC PERSPECTIVES 4 HUG ME, HOLD ME TIGHT! THE EVOLUTION OF PASSENGER TRANSPORT IN LUANDA AND HUAMBO (ANGOLA), 1975-2000 107 Carlos M. Lopes 5. STRIKING GOLD IN COTONOU? THREE CASES OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN THE EURO-WEST AFRICAN SECOND-HAND CAR TRADE IN BENIN 127 Joost Beuving vii PART III: ANTROPOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES 6 THE ART OF TRUCK MODDING ON THE NILE (SUDAN): AN ATTEMPT TO TRACE CREATIVITY 151 Kurt Beck 7 THE HILUX AND THE ‘BODY THROWER’: KHAT TRANSPORTERS IN KENYA 175 Neil Carrier 8 MODERN CHARIOTS: SPEED AND MOBILITY IN CONTEMPORARY ‘SMALL’ WARS IN THE SAHARA 191 Georg Klute 9 RELIGION ON THE ROAD: THE SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCE OF ROAD TRAVEL IN GHANA 212 Gabriel Klaeger 10 A CHIEF’S FATAL CAR ACCIDENT: POLITICAL HISTORY AND MORAL GEOGRAPHY IN BURKINA FASO 232 Sabine Luning 11 ‘ANYWAY!’: LORRY INSCRIPTIONS IN GHANA 253 Sjaak van der Geest List of authors 295 Index 297 viii List of photographs 1.1 Steam traction engine 34 1.2 D.C. Wallace on tour in his T-Ford, 1915 39 2.1 Ecos da Guiné 58 2.2 Studebaker 74 3.1 Ford Versailles 87 3.2 Amadou Ibrahim Diop, 2003 102 4.1 Candongueiros near Asa Branca market, Luanda 117 4.2 Kupapata in Huambo – driving a passenger 121 4.3 Kupapatas: Waiting for passengers near Kapango Market, Huambo 124 5.1 A view from a car-carrying ship on the crowd waiting at the quay, port of Cotonou 133 6.1 Bedford TJ with passengers 170 6.2 Bedford TJ Tipper Lorry and its modified twin 170 6.3 The process of modifying a truck 171 6.4 Bedford TJ dismantled 171 6.5 Mr. Adila An-Nur, master craftsman 172 6.6 Reinforcing the cabin 172 6.7 Swimmer of Land Cruiser 173 6.8 Wheel connected with bolts 173 6.9 The mechanic and his apprentice 174 6.10 Adorned rear door of Bedford TJ 174 8.1 Malian army camel corps 200 8.2 Chariot of the Malian army 204 8.3 Chariot of Flaa rebels, Niger 211 9.1 View from a minibus 215 9.2 Praying on the road 222 ix List of maps 1.1 Zambia 23 3.1 Niger, 1950s-1960s 78 5.1 Shipping route, ports and major car markets in Western Europe 129 5.2 Shipping route, ports, trade flows and major markets in West Africa 130 6.1 Spatial location of Bedford’s community of practice in Sudan 165 x Preface This volume has its origins in a panel presented at the First European Confer- ence on African Studies (ECAS) – held in London in 2005 – which focused on the social history and anthropology of motor vehicles in Africa. The panel, organised under the title ‘Of drivers, mechanics, traders and prostitutes: a social history of motor vehicles in Africa in the twentieth century’, led to lively dis- cussions on the historical, economic and anthropological dimensions that characterise this intriguing topic. While one of the most important factors for change in contemporary Africa, the discussions made clear that African studies has, so far, largely neglected the subject of motorised transport as an integral part of Africa’s social and historical change. It was thus felt that the inevitable delays, marking the transition from conference papers to the production of a single and coherent volume, were obstacles well worth overcoming. This book should be seen as a first attempt to insert the subject of motorised transport into the wider field of African studies and take stock of the state of scholarly knowledge on this subject. The volume tries to set the topic in the wider context of social and transport history, in Africa and elsewhere, as well as that of general socioeconomic and cultural change South of the Sahara. It explores the complex relationships between people and motor vehicles in Africa in the twentieth century – from car and bush mechanics to call boys (‘coxeurs’) and prostitutes, from new market opportunities to the social organisation of taxi-ranks, from political agitation and mobilisation to the use of motor vehicles in policing and warfare. In order to achieve a balanced focus, both historical and economic studies were included, while two additional anthropological chapters, that of Sjaak van der Geest on Ghanaian lorry inscriptions and Sabine Luning on the cultural dimensions of road travel and its hazards in Burkina Faso, were commissioned for the project. We wish to express our gratitude to all those scholars, Africanists and others, who encouraged us on this exciting path. We would like to thank Ann Reeves for her patient copy editing; Mieke Zwart for the production of the lay-out; the African Studies Centre for its support in bringing this project to fruition, and Brill Academic Publishers for its help in including the numerous illustrations, in black-and-white and full colour – in this field of study a vital and integral part of the analysis. xi Finally, we wish to dedicate this volume to our deeply missed comrade, Stefan Elders, linguist, fellow Africanist, colleague and above all friend. His untimely death whilst in the field in 2007 is a great loss to us all. We can only say that his enthusiasm for the empirical study of Africa is an encouragement to us to continue on the fascinating road of Africanist scholarship. The editors Leiden, October 2008 xii Motor vehicles and people in Africa: An introduction Jan-Bart Gewald, Sabine Luning & Klaas van Walraven Introduction Speaking to the South African Parliament in Cape Town in 1960, the then Prime Minister of Great Britain Harold Macmillan, spoke of the Winds of Change blowing across the African continent. Although Macmillan was un- doubtedly correct in his assessment of the political situation, his words would have been equally relevant for the change brought about by the motor-car in Africa. For the speed of change brought about by the introduction of the motor- car is visible in all fields of human endeavour on the Continent. The introduc- tion of the motor vehicle into Africa during the course of the twentieth century led to far-reaching and complex transformations in the continent’s economies, politics, societies and cultures, and affected all aspects of African life. Until now little systematic research has been conducted into this multi-faceted topic from an historical, economic or anthropological perspective. Yet, arguably, the arrival of the motor vehicle was the single most important factor for change in Africa in the twentieth century. Its impact extended across the totality of human existence; from ecological devastation to economic advancement, from cultural transformation to political change, and from social perceptions through to a myriad of other dimensions. There has been a tendency to see motor vehicles as being linked solely to the state and the political and economic elite but their impact stretches beyond into the everyday lives of people in the smallest villages in the furthest reaches of Africa. Buses, mammy trucks, cars, pick-ups and lorries go beyond where rail- ways, ferries and boats can reach. True, the introduction of railways had a tremendous impact on African societies but from the 1940s onwards the train 2 GEWALD, LUNING & WALRAVEN decreased in importance and has now been almost totally superseded by other means of transport.1 The extensive shanty towns that have developed on the tracks of the Ghana Railways shunting yards in the centre of Accra are a graphic example of this decline. In addition, unlike the motor vehicle, the train is forced to run on the tracks laid out for it and does not allow for much initia- tive on the part of individuals. The capital input is such that state funding, involving amounts quite simply beyond the finances of small entrepreneurs, is required, whereas purchasing a motorcycle, taxi or truck is not. Africa only owns a very small proportion of the world’s motor vehicles, yet it is precisely because of the scarcity of transport that these vehicles assume such importance both in rural areas and the urban environment. In fact, as the contribution on Angola in this volume shows, public transport in the continent’s many sprawl- ing cities is often serviced exclusively by motorized vehicles. Research on this subject is limited. For example, only one of the more than 1,000 papers presented at the annual meetings of the African Studies Associa- tion in the United States between 1990 and 1997 dealt with the impact of motor vehicles in Africa.
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