The Revolution in Zanzibar

Ghana was the first country in Africa to gain independence in 1964 and it would mark the end of colonial rule but also the beginning of violent upheaval in some countries. In his early 20s, Mohamed Amin travelled the continent to document these important events. One of his first international exclusives was the revolution in Zanzibar where he only just survived. 

As a local lad, Mohamed Amin knew that the nearest point to Zanzibar was the old slaving port of Bagamoyo. Off he went and haggled for a dhow and someone to lift him on to it. It was a smart career move.

Mo Amin made it in time, setting himself up for one of the best stories he ever managed to cover. The story was sensational. A semi-literate Ugandan opportunist, self-styled 'Field Marshall’ Johnny Okello had seized power with a 600-strong peasant army. 

In a week of blood-letting, 13,000 were murdered and their bodies dumped in the sea. Mohamed Amin documented it all. 

Thousands were herded behind barbed wire or spirited away behind the grim walls of Kilimamigu Prison. For four days Mohamed Amin’s work was headline news. He got his pictures out the same way as he got in -- by dhow. 

Okello’s reign of terror ended when the island’s first President, Sheikh Karume, came to power. With Karume in control, things became even more dangerous. Mohamed Amin would document the new regime and discover something that would make the Americans shiver. 

Discovering a new dirt road carved into the jungle, Mo found himself in a camp. Acting on a hunch, he began taking photographs. He had discovered a military training camp, with Russian and East German ‘advisers'. Proof indeed that the Cold War had come to the Spice Island. 

Mohamed Amin was working for a News Agency called Visnews. Subscribers were offered all material shot by Visnews cameramen. Attached to the film was a camera sheet stating the cameraman’s name. One of Visnews' subscribers was the Russian News Agency, TASS. They informed their counterparts in Zanzibar about the footage. Mohamed Amin thought he had got away with a sensational scoop. How wrong he was.

Mohamed Amin was imprisoned at the notorious Kilimamigu Jail. After 28 of the worst days of his life, tortured, drugged and beaten, not knowing if he would live or die, Mo was finally released. He had lost 28 pounds, but he had gained a reputation. Thrown out of Tanzania at the age of 23 after his brush with the communists in Zanzibar, he had to start all over again.