a German-African History of Family Lineage

A former slave who became Mtemi Mirambo's first wife and queen of the Urambo Empire in Tanzania, Narwimba forges ties with Thérèse Kayikwamba Wagner, the star diplomat of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The connection between these two illustrious women is Germany. The former was saved by a couple of German missionaries, Elise Kootz and her husband Kretschmer, at the Lutheran church in Utengula, Tanzania, and the latter has German ancestry on her father's side. But another plausible connection is that of the Abaramba, whose lineage extends from the Banyamwezi of Tanzania to the Baluba of the DRC, passing through Burundi, Uganda, and Rwanda. Their history intersects with that of Nyirabaziga, a former slave from the Kingdom of Gisaka who married Macumu, chief of the Abaramba village of Nyagahinga in Rwanda. The stories of these three women demonstrate that the peoples of Central and East Africa, despite recurring conflicts, share close ties.