German colonial rule and its structure

German colonial rule and its structure

All German colonies were under the Secretary of Colonies, whose office was in Berlin, Germany. Each colony was under a governor. Governors assisted and reported directly to the Secretary of Colonies. Each colony was divided into districts. For example, the Germans divided German East Africa into districts in order to simplify the administration of the territory. By 1914, there were 24 districts in German East Africa. As Figure 1 shows, the districts were Songea, Lindi, Kilwa, Mahenge, Iringa, Langenburg, Rufiji, Dar es Salaam, Morogoro, Bagamoyo, Pangani, Tanga, Wilhelm, Moshi, Arusha, Mwanza, Kondoa, Dodoma, Bismarckburg, Ujiji, Tabora, Burundi, Rwanda and Bukoba.

Each district was divided into smaller areas of administration. Each of these smaller areas was ruled by a leader who was known as a Jumbe or an Akida or a Liwali. The Jumbe or Akida or Liwali was answerable to the District Commissioner. They helped the District Commissioner to administer the district. Most of the Jumbes or Akidas or Liwalis were Arabs or some Swahili people from the coastal areas. Most of them were Muslims. These were preferred by the German colonial government over others because they knew how to read and write. Some local African chiefs continued to be given chiefly status by the Germans. However, they served under the directions of the Jumbes or Akidas or Liwalis. They lost their independence and autonomy.

Duties of Jumbes, Akidas or Liwalis included the following:

1. Collecting taxes;
2. Mobilising labourers to work in the colonial economic activities;
3. Ensuring peace and security in their areas of jurisdiction; and
4. Reporting to the District Commissioner anything that threatened the security of the colonial government in the district.

The administrative structure of German colonial rule, as seen in Figure was bureaucratic and hierarchical. Starting with the Secretary of Colonies, it moved downwards through the Governor, Advisory Council and District Commissioners to the Jumbes, Akidas and Liwalis. Below the Jumbes, Akidas and Liwalis were peasants, civil servants, colonial settlers and Indians or Arabs.