a
boma is a
livestock enclosure, a
stockade or kind of
fort, or a district
government office. The term is used in many parts of eastern, central and southern
africa and is incorporated into many african languages as well as colonial varieties of
english,
french and
german.
As a livestock enclosure,
boma is the equivalent of '
kraal', and the former being used in areas influenced by swahili and the latter in areas influenced by
afrikaans.
In the form of fortified villages or camps,
bomas were commonplace in
central africa in the 18th and 19th century in areas affected by the
slave trade, tribal wars and colonial conquest, and were built by both sides in such conflicts.
In
british colonies, especially in remote areas,
boma came to be used to mean colonial government offices because in the late 19th century such offices usually included a fortified police station or military barracks, often in the form of a timber stockade, though some had stone walls. Many were called forts, as in '
fort jameson' or '
fort rosebery'. In the 20th century it came to mean the district or provincial government headquarters, even where fortifications were no longer required.
[2]
boma is still commonly used in eastern and southern africa with this meaning. An example appeared in
the nation, an english-language newspaper published in
blantyre, malawi, on may 26, 2006: "in chitipa, 24
somalis were arrested at the boma."