Taita Taveta to patent WWI battlefields

Taita Taveta County will make history once it moves ahead with plans to patent rights to World War I battlefield sites.

Alexander Mwangeka, the county’s executive in charge of tourism and natural resources, said a Bill addressing this is ready to be presented to the County Assembly for debate.

“It is part of the Taita Taveta Tourism County Bill, which has as one its most important items the patenting of battlefields and historical sites,” he said.

These sites include the old Taveta police station, which once served as a command post and where on the evening of August 14, 1914, the shots that ignited the East African Campaign were fired.

“We are moving to protect the rich historical sites on behalf of the Taita Taveta people. We also want to be careful because we do not want our battlefield sites and rich history taken away from us, like happened with the patenting rights for the kiondo [weaved basket], which were taken by foreigners,” Mr Mwangeka said.

“These are extremely unique sites that can only be associated with and linked to Taita Taveta County.”

Other sites included in the proposed law are the airfield in Maktau, which is where the first flight in East and Central Africa took off on October 12, 1915. The airstrip was built by the British during their WW1 campaign against the Germans in former Tanganyika.

Mwangeka has also appealed to professionals from the area to volunteer to offer support and mobilise resources to help the county capitalise on its rich history.