It was morning of May-21-1996 an MV Bukoba ship, carrying more than 1,000 passengers and cargo, overturned and sank in Lake Victoria, just few times almost half an hour before docking at Mwanza Port.
Following a report issued by the government’s probe commission, reported over 700 passengers died with such accident while 114 others were lucky to survive the accident.
The government under president of such time Benjamin William Mkapa was overwhelmed by the crisis and sought assistance from Neighbouring countries like Kenya and South Africa for concerted efforts to remove the bodies of those trapped in the immersed ship.
Due to such bad disaster a tower of memories was built at Igoma on the outskirts of Mwanza town where victims were buried in a mass grave. A man known as Nyaisa Simango was one of the survivors of the worst marine transport accident in Tanzania.
Inspired by a burning desire to tell the world what happened before and after the ship capsized, Simango who now works with the Bank of Tanzania wrote a book titled Sitasahau MV Bukoba, in which he chronicles the horror as it unfolded during that fateful morning.
Godfrey Simango Nyaisa, then a prison warder at Ukonga Maximum Prison, leaves Dar es Salaam for Mwanza by train in the company of a colleague Sergeant Nico.
They are escorting a prisoner who they are scheduled to hand over to the authorities in Bukoba. On arrival in Mwanza, the trio proceed to the port and board an overly crowded MV Bukoba, after jostling and shoving their way through the crowds to get some room in the restaurant cabin.
Tickets were available through the backdoor, even if you came late. As night falls, Nyaisa is shocked to see that the vessel almost overturns when an irresponsible crew member messes up with the ship’s wheel.
He narrates: “All hell broke loose when the ship swayed violently as we were sipping our soft drinks. The refrigerators dropped on the floor with a loud bang! Bottles of beer and soda broke into pieces and littered the floor. I feared for my life….’’ The ship anchors in Bukoba though, the end of the first leg of Nyaisa’s journey.
Chaos reigns at Bukoba Port on the following day of May 20th May, when Nyaisa prepares for boarding for a cruise back to Mwanza. A cargo of bunches of bananas, cars, suitcases and all sorts of luggage, flood the basement of the ship.
Multitudes jam the dock with their belongings as if fleeing a war zone. Those who fail to board hurriedly hire taxis in order to catch up with the vessel at Kemondo Bay.
It was a frightening scenario, but no authority, not even the Tanzania Railways Authority which operated the vessel, came forward to quell this manmade storm.
Throughout the voyage, Nyaisa, who has never travelled on a ship is a very worried man, often looking for a lifebuoy or consulting with a passenger about it, though none is keen to listen.
This weakness makes him naïve and nervous. Had the ship arrived in Mwanza safely, we would accuse him of being a nuisance to other passengers. Suddenly, the vessel sways to the left then right… left then right.
He writes: “My mind veered off from the swaying ship and reached my home village. I saw my younger sib lings screaming and wailing after my body is brought home from the accident scene…. I wanted to throw up and release the beer I had just sipped, so I went to the bathroom, but I couldn’t…’’ In the middle of the night Nyaisa gets tired of the ship’s swaying and rocking.
He squeezes himself to a corner where a woman is sleeping with his children and falls asleep, only to be awakened by screaming voices. He is lying in a pool of water, alone.
Other passengers are assembled in the upper part of the ship. Some are praying but many are screaming. The ship sways again, left, then right, left, right, left… ‘’Oh my goodness! The vessel has gone adrift… some passengers have been tossed overboard!’’ Someone yells.
The swaying stops and Nyaisa goes to take a shower, soon the ship will dock at Mwanza Port. This must be due to heavy weather, though no authority speaks. It is 7.00 am. and the sky is clear enough to see the view of Mwanza town.
While he is brushing his shoes, the impossible happens. The ship tilts to the left, then right and then makes about turn! She has overturned! Nyaisa writes: “Impossible! No ship overturns.
No! ships sink… Good God! My life is over…! I’m dead!’’ This episode could be the climax of the story as it revolves around fear and agony but with a desire to live. Nyaisa finds himself in a new but frightening world. He sees people dying, many of them.
The ship now lies upside down and water penetrates through the walls. There is darkness and the door has closed from the outside, the floor is submerged! When three courageous men appear from nowhere, he joins them to drill an escape hole.
This particular trick works after a great deal of laboring and Nyaisa hauls himself into the lake! He can’t swim, he has never done so. He seizes an object, while waggling in the water. It’s a human being’s leg. He holds it firm, until he manages to grab a lifebuoy.
Finally he climbs onto the sinking ship’s hull where he, together with a few other victims, are rescued by fishing boats, four hours after the ship overturned! Prior to the post script, E&D Vision Publishers added some colour to the book by including a piece showing how Tanzania’s press reported MV Bukoba accident, plus an interview with some of those who lost their loved ones in the accident.
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