NairobiWalker
JF-Expert Member
- Oct 31, 2012
- 16,395
- 17,977
The 'soul' in this context refers to the historical and cultural heritage of our country related to the building.
The name of the building, 'IKULU' comes from the word 'MAKULU' in kigogo (a bantu language of the natives of Dodoma, which means the residency of Mtemi or Chief). That building is a blend of both African and Arabic architecture reflecting the people of the coastal area.
During the WWI, it was bombed to the ground and later rebuilt by the British. Every section has some historic background and soul to it, from the original central block, the Princess Margaret wing, all the way to the Kikwete building. You're just mad because yours (in Nairobi) don't even have an native name to it, no soul.
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First of all, Ikulu is not a specific name of the Tanzanian Statehous. Ikulu is simply the Swahili word for the Head of State's residence or a King's residence. Thus we have Ikulu ya Kenya, Ikulu ya Tanzania, Ikulu ya Marekani etc. We refer to the Kenyan State House as Ikulu all the time and Swahili is a native Kenyan language so I don't even get where your absurd argument on having a native name is coming from. It's even laughable that you would think I'm mad about it when I didn't even view it that way to begin with which renders your whole argument null and void for being based on a false premise.
Secondly, a name does not give a city a soul. The soul of a city is found in it's culture, architecture, social life and general attractiveness of a city. A name is just a name.
Thirdly, the 'historical heritage' of the Tanzanian (Dar es Salaam) State House is just as 'historical and cultural' as the Kenyan one. Both were built by colonial powers without the voice or the say of the locals. One thing to note though, while the Nairobi and Dar State Houses blended well with the surrounding city, the Dodoma one looks forced. It's simply a replica of what was constructed in Dar by the colonialists. One would expect now that you're building a new capital, you would come up with something uniquely Tanzanian - you didn't. You are building a new soulless capital. Yours is more (actually worse) of a Brasilia than a Canberra or Washington.