The Washihiri Arabs from Yemen – Business Daily

When I worked for the National Bank of Kenya in Nairobi as a professional employee in 1973, before continuing to the University of Nairobi, I noticed that every 24th of the month (which was the traditional payday for bank employees) there were these Arab traders, known as Washihiri, who hung around the bank premises on their motorcycles (Suzuki B 120 was the popular choice), and occasionally a member of staff went outside and held a brief conversation with the dealers and handed over something.

The same traders would be seen at other companies at the end of the month and a similar exchange would take place.

I quickly found out that these retailers mostly sold household items to employees on credit terms, and borrowers would repay over a period of monthly installments. The bank had a weak view of the staff borrowing from outside and therefore Washihiri wanted to stay out of sight of the management.

Local banks were just on their way out of the colonial environment, where management was pure white and Africans were relegated to clerical jobs.

While there were attractive staff loan benefits to management, loans to younger staff were very limited and many of the lower cadres resorted to credit from these Washihiri and others to shylocks to finance their lasting consumer needs.

Those were the days when in Shakespeare’s (Venice merchant) words “My word is my bond.” The default rate was next to zero and those who did not default were exposed to social stigma.

There has been a long connection between the East African coast and Saudi Arabia. Traders visited the Indian Ocean, the Arabian Sea and the East African coast in search of merchandise before the rise of Islam. With the subsequent settlement of Muslims on the East African coast, Islam was introduced into the region.

In the 14th century, with the rapid growth of commercial, immigration and cross-cultural activities, contact between the two regions intensified. A new civilization was born in which the Yemenis contributed significantly.

Although the Portuguese disrupted this development, Mombasa and Pate became new centers of trade, Swahili civilization, coastal Islam and resistance to the Portuguese.

As Busaidi restored peace in the Indian Ocean, with the help of the British, the Yemeni permanent settlement in East Africa continued to grow. They were employed in the sultan’s services in trade and manual labor, so that in the 19th century the Yemenites made up a significant part of the Arab population along the coast.

Washihiri are people from Shihr, a coastal town in Hadhramaut, a region in southern Arabia. The name Washihiri got a derogatory image because as the Omani and “wangwana” (ruling class) claimed that the people were “low” and “dirty” and therefore could have no claim to “ustarabu” (civilization), “hishma” and ” adabu “(respect), and they were a little attentive to religious matters.

The Hadhramis who came to Lamu stood in stark contrast to the Omanis who came as rulers dressed in joho, turbans, carried swords and knives, while the Hadhramis were wandering workers, poor and covered only the lower part of their bodies with a kikoi (rectangular ). piece of material), leaving the upper part uncovered.

Due to their low status, Hadhrami men were not allowed to marry “wangwana” women, so they had to travel home or have wives sent from there.

The Hadrameans did not care about the social order in Lamu as it left them free to pursue their trade goals. They were not interested in establishing a relationship with “wangwana” and unlike “wangwana” treated all men as equal. The Hadhramis were the first to provide aid to African slaves.

The Yemeni Arabs were generally unaffected by the economic downturn following the advent of colonial rule. Nor were they so badly affected by anti-slavery regulations, as they did not own plantations that were cultivated by slaves, as the Omani did. They were outraged by others for their ability to succeed in a period of economic decline.

Swahili was heard saying “these immigrants are slipping in as they please and slipping out again as they want. They are gradually taking our trade from us. They are not East Africans and have no loyalty to the Queen. The strictest immigration laws should be enforced against them….”

The Hadhramis tended to keep to themselves in well-defined kinship relationships and they were not involved in political and social activities. Inspired by their economic goals, the Hadhramians were prudent with money and regarded others as wasteful and extravagant.

They considered money to be the “ni’ma” (blessing) that a person should accumulate and not spend on luxury, practicing the mantra “to eat and dress moderately and have little more than a house to sleep under at night. “

And so it goes. The days when business was run on the basis of trust alone are buried deep in the annals of history!