Mfugale legacy: How Peacock Hotel redefined Dar es Salaam’s hospitality

Tanzania is a nation endowed not only with vast natural resources, but also with a wealth of extraordinary people. Their life stories are testaments to resilience and vision; if shared widely, these experiences have the power to inspire every citizen to make a meaningful difference in their own lives and the country’s future.

Recognising this reservoir of talent, Who’s Who Tanzania sat down with some of the nation’s most impactful figures to document their journeys. Below is an interview with one such individual Joseph Mfugale, the proprietor of Peacock Hotel. His transition from humble beginnings to establishing a staple of the Tanzanian hospitality industry is a story of determination and success worthy of emulation. Born in rural Iringa in 1944, Mfugale passed away in Dar es Salaam on July 31, 2021.

 

QUESTION (Q): What is your family background?

Fortunately, in 1954, my father granted me the opportunity to pursue education. I enrolled in Kanimombe Mission School, located about 20 kilometres from home. With no means of transport, I spent my weekends trekking that long distance on foot. I spent four productive years at Kanimombe until 1959, consistently performing well in my studies. However, the path was cut short when my father’s financial means were exhausted. With a heavy heart, I was forced to abandon my studies and return home, a moment of profound disappointment that marked the end of my formal schooling, but the beginning of a different kind of perseverance.

Q: Can you recall how much was tuition fee at that time?

A: I cannot recall, but it was a “very small amount of money”. For my father, who was just a subsistent farmer in the village, who at times even struggled to buy uniforms, it was a problem.
Looking at the time I grew up, most of young people did not go to school. I thank God that by the time I was in Standard Four, I was able to read, write and count. When my father said he could no longer afford taking me to school, I got confused and wondered if there was any meaning to life anymore. He then told me to return home and be given an acre or two where I could farm. Being a young man with no family, I decided to look for other means of survival. For the first time, I decided to go to Mufindi District in Iringa Region to work on tea plantations.

Q: What made you go to Mufindi? Were you the first to go there or was there an established system where people could go to Mufindi?

A: No, from my village, I went alone. Nobody persuaded me to go there to seek employment.

Q: How did you know about Mufindi?

A: I knew there were tea plantations in Mufindi. I have a cousin, who is also a namesake, Jose, who used to stay at a village very far from ours. I used to hear that he is in Mufindi. I decided to go and see what he was doing there. You won’t believe, but I went on foot all the way from the village to Mufindi, having no bus fare. I was accompanied by my younger brother by the name of Casto. We left our home Village Kihanga for Mufindi through Kiponzelo, which was the first village where there were services such as the Primary Court, a hospital and some shops. To us, this place was known as a “town”. This was 7 kilometres from our village. From Kiponzelo we travelled 9 kilometres up to Ifunda, and then continued to Usokami and we could no longer continue. We then went to an older person who stayed there. He was from our village. Unfortunately, he was not there at that time. We then entered his house and after sometime his wife came. There was a misunderstanding and she chased us out of the house.

We were now stranded. We went away and found shelter at a neighbour’s house. The next morning, we continued with our journey to Mufindi. At that time, it was raining and we struggled to find our way until we reached Lugoda Factory. I was fortunate to get employed and my younger brother had to return home.

Q: What were the criteria for employing you and not your younger brother?

A: It was simply because I was slightly older than him. My cousin then loaned him a bus fare which I was to repay at the end of the month.

Q: What means of transport were they available by then?

A: There were trucks and buses although the buses were not so many. I worked at Mufindi Factory for a month and half, when I was told there was no more tea to harvest and I had to stop after receiving my pay.

Q: Can you remember how much was your pay?

A: It was so small, maybe about Sh200 or Sh300. After that, I returned to the village. As you know, village life, when you come from work, having bought a shirt and a pair of shorts you are seen as a high-class person. I stayed in the village for about six months or more with no work, but as you know, you must go to the family farm and work.
We would compete to see who would cover a larger area than others. It was a difficult thing to do.

Q: What crops did you grow at that time?

A: We grew maize for food. If we needed money to buy clothes my mother would prepare a local brew and sell it to get money.

Q: Was there nothing sold at all?

A: If it happens that harvest surpassed home consumption, a bag of maize was sold at about Sh30. For 10 bags it was Sh300. Having spent much time in the village, I got used to village life, such as sitting at a local brew table with friends, although I was not taking alcohol. In 1963, I got married at the age of 19 and started a family. I used to go and play football and left my wife at home. Compared to my peers, I was seen as the most educated person in the village of Kaningombe, where I lived for some time. In 1964, Bishop Trokke came to the village. He requested that I become a teacher at a pre-primary school at Ibegesi Village, which was a bit far from my home village. I went to visit the school, but I was not able to take the offer as conditions were not favourable to me. Because I enjoyed being independent, I went to Idodi, a place where land was very fertile and people had big farms. If one grew maize, one would harvest abundantly.

Q: How far was Idodi?

A: Our plot was situated about 10 kilometres from Kaningombe. There, I cleared an acre and began planting under the guidance of an elder who taught me the nuances of the trade.

The work was gruelling, but the nights were even more challenging. We were forced to sleep in the bush, and I lived in constant fear of snakes. I vividly remember one night when we had lit a fire to ward off predators; suddenly, the air was shattered by a lion’s roar. It was a terrifying moment. We were completely defenceless, without so much as an arrow or a gun for protection. As the roar grew closer, the elder suggested we climb a tree to save ourselves. Fortunately, the lion passed at a distance, likely deterred by the flames of our campfire.

When harvest time arrived, we yielded only seven bags—a disappointing result that was barely enough to sustain us. I decided to leave my share with the elder, asking him to pool our harvests and sell them together. I then returned home, trusting in his integrity. He proved to be a man of his word; after selling the produce, he sent me Sh200, my hard-earned share of the labour.

Being a Christian during holidays one is expected to buy new clothes for a celebration. When it was time for Easter, I did not even have a pair of trousers. A friend of mine had to lend me his extra pair of trousers. This was my first time to ever wear a pair of trousers.
This experience challenged me to consider how I was going to live. It was now necessary that I find something to do. I went to my neighbour who was a carpenter. I told him I was willing to be his assistant so that I might learn carpentry. I spent a year with him learning. In 1965, I went to Tosamaganga, where there was a technical college offering carpentry courses. It was at the same technical college a brother of mine by the name of Theodeus was learning. However, I was not accepted for various reasons, including age. I stayed with my brother for two months and because I had acquired some carpentry skills before I continued practising. Having realised that I was not receiving the treatment I deserved at Tosamaganga, I decided it was better to die poor in the village than to continue there. After two months, I returned to my neighbour in the village where I had learned carpentry. I borrowed his equipment, found an axe and set up my own workshop just nearby his.

Q: So, where did you really learn carpentry?

A: I did not have official training apart from the time I worked as an assistant in my neighbour’s workshop, and the two months stint at Tosamaganga with my brother. My mother who loved me so much decided to sell a bull to help me. So, she gave me the money which I used to buy a saw. As I did not have capital to buy wood, I had to go to a forest to look for dry logs. I would then have to carry them on my head back to my home village, a distance of about 10 kilometres. There was no polish at that time, so I would use cooking oil to make furniture shine. The first furniture I made was an office chair. I made the first three chairs and took them to Mr Mnoga Pawamu who owned some shops in Kiponzelo.
He liked the chairs and bought them for Sh100.

Other pieces of furniture I made and sold to him included tables, windows and doors. In 1967, I entered a contract to make doors and windows for a warehouse that belonged to Usavila Farmers’ Cooperative Society. It cost Sh800. This contract was granted by the chairperson of the cooperative society, Mr Paulo Kiwuyo, who was impressed with my work after visiting Mr Mnoga Pawamu’s residence in Kiponzelo. I was then required to go to the forest again to look for dry logs. These had to be taken all the way to the warehouse which was about 15 kilometres. Later on, I engaged an assistant by the name of Clemence Mwanyenza, who helped me to speed up the work. I was able to complete this work within the same year.

Q: What did you do with the money?

A: After being paid Sh800, I stopped the carpentry business and returned to my home village in Kihanga, where I opened a retail shop through the support of my brother-in-law, who introduced me to an Indian businessperson in Iringa Town. I liked the retail shop business as it had a good status in those days.
I mostly sold clothes a ‘kaniki’ type. Hence, my shop became known as “Kaniki Shop”. After opening the business, I ran out of stock after three days, and I had to run to town to buy more stock. This business brought about many blessings to me. However, it was not an easy business either, especially when it came to the transportation of goods from Iringa Town to Kihanga Village, which was only available from Iringa Town to Ifunda. From Ifunda, I would cycle to Kiponzelo and from there I had to carry the goods on my head for about 6 kilometres to Kihanga Village.

In 1968, I entered a contract to supply 10 bags of maize to Kiponzelo Primary School. I got Sh300 and used it to buy a bicycle. At that time to have a bicycle, one was considered a rich person. I would take my bicycle from the village to Kiponzelo and ride from there to Iringa Town. After sometime, I had made a good relationship with an Indian businessperson. I learned that to succeed in life one needed to be faithful. For if you are faithful you are bound to succeed and if you are unfaithful, you will not reach anywhere.

Since I was trusted, I started getting goods on credit. In 1969, due to transportation problems, I relocated my business from Kihanga to Welu Village. At Welu, there was a good transportation network to Kiponzelo, and there were very few shops. Therefore, in general, life was good in Welu Village so much so that my business became successful. This enabled me to build a house, which still stands to date. With this house, I was able to set up a much bigger shop and did tailoring as well.

In the late 1974, I bought a plot in Kijiweni suburb in Iringa at Sh5,000. A year later, I sold it at Sh10,000 after receiving an offer to buy a house in Uhindini suburb along Jamaat Street also in Iringa for Sh30,000. The proceeds were used as a deposit for the house. The remaining balance was paid by instalments of Sh7,000. The house had two shops in front and could also be extended to a storey house. I took over one of the shops and set up my own shop. Therefore, I had two shops in Welu Village and in Iringa Town. By the end of 1975, half of my business in Welu had been moved to my house in Iringa Town. By that time, I was running a business of selling shoes and clothes.

I was buying the clothes from the regional RTC office. Later, I was able to move all my business from Welu Village and also constructed an additional floor to my house which is used as a family residence to date.

As it is in life, things will not always work out as planned. One of the problems I encountered which threatened my clothing business was the socialism policy in 1975, which required shops to be operated under the socialism policy which was given a priority in getting goods before the private ownership of shops by individuals. This led to the closure of my shop in Iringa. From there, I ventured into a transportation business whereby by the end of 1978, I bought a Scania truck. This was made possible through the money I had made from the shop and a loan from Karadha Company Limited. In order to have reliable transportation business, I joined Kwacha Transport Association and paid a membership fee of Sh4,000.

The transportation business was good to the extent that in 1979 I was able to buy a second Scania truck through Karadha Company Limited and also enlisted it in Kwacha Transport Association. These trucks operated mainly in Mwanza, Iringa, Mbeya and Dar es Salaam. In 1979 during the war between Tanzania and Uganda, there was an order from the government of Tanzania for all cars and trucks to be enlisted in the transportation of foodstuffs and other necessities for Tanzanian soldiers on the battle ground in Kagera. Therefore, both my trucks were taken to Uganda for that purpose. I thank God after Tanzania won the war my trucks were returned to me and continued with the business. In 1981, I bought a Scania bus also through Karadha Company Limited. It became famous in Iringa, Mbeya and Songea commonly known as Kwacha. I bought it at Sh59,500.

In the same year, I moved to Dar es Salaam and bought a plot in Masaki and started the construction of my house. In 1983, following completion of my house, I was able to move in and started life in Dar es Salaam. The purpose of moving to Dar es Salaam was to see how I could expand my business, considering the size of the city and its population at the time.

After sometime the government paid me Sh300,000 as the last payment for the use of my trucks during the war. I used the money to buy a plot on which Peacock Hotel is built. The idea to build the hotel came about from my stay at Mwananchi Guest House, where I stayed during my visits to Dar es Salaam. In my view, the hotel business was much easier to manage than a transportation business.

Q: Why did you decide to move your business to Dar es Salaam?

A: Dar es Salaam was the centre of business with many opportunities compared to other regions. Building a hotel requires significant investment.

Q: How did you raise the required capital to do so?

A: Well, I did not have all the capital upfront to build it. I, therefore, used the money I collected from the transportation business.
Construction progressed at a slow pace as the trucks and bus were worn out and thus no longer generating as much income as before. In 1986, I applied for, and was issued a loan of Sh30 million from NBC. The loan was secured by a title deed of the land where the hotel was being constructed. However, it was too little to complete the construction of the hotel. By this time, the hotel had reached the 3^rd floor. With all this achievement, I reached a stage where I had run out of money to continue with the hotel construction.

It is said in Kiswahili, “kimfaacho mtu chake”, meaning that which you have is what will help you, I decided to sell my house in Masaki. But before selling it, I was able to get someone to rent it. I relocated the family back to Iringa and rented a house. From the rentals earned, I was able to buy another plot in Msasani. A month later, I was able to construct a single bedroom house and brought my family back to Dar es Salaam. Then, I was able to find a buyer for the Masaki house and sold it at Sh30 million. This was in 1987. Unfortunately, the person who bought it did not pay the full amount of money at the same time, but in instalments. This affected my financial position and I could not complete the hotel as planned. From the instalments received, I progressed with the hotel construction, repairing and maintaining the trucks and bus as well as settling the bank loan.

During this difficult time, some friends of mine and other people advised that I should sell the house and go back to Iringa. Others were mocking me saying, “He is a Mhehe, what can he do? When did you see a Tanzanian owning a tourist hotel?” Nevertheless, I did not despair by their words. I asked myself if I sold the house and returned to Iringa what would I do?” I realised their advice was not of help to me. Therefore, I took courage to face the financial position to see the hotel opening for business.
I then sold the bus and used the proceeds to complete the construction of the hotel. I was also able to get a customer to buy one of the trucks and the money was used to extend the house in Msasani.

Q: When was the hotel opened for service?

A: The hotel was opened in July 1992. I recall the first guest was a Korean national by the name of Hann. After a short while, many people were impressed with it and would come to stay there.
We also had customers who moved from other hotels to Peacock. As a result, some areas of the hotel had to be expanded, such as the restaurant. Mr Hann played a key part in designing the new restaurant. By that time, the hotel had 27 rooms. Three months later demand for rooms was more than we could cater for. Consequently, we had to increase our rate from Sh4,000 to Sh7,000 per room. The income received was used to increase the number of rooms and services. That was where I learned that to attract customers, there must be high quality services at affordable prices. The official opening of the hotel was July 17, 1993. It was graced by then Prime Minister John Samuel Malecela. By that time, the hotel had 36 rooms. Hotel Manager was Benny Mtemi.
By 1997, we added 18 more rooms to reach 54, and then added more rooms to reach 93.

Q: You named your Hotel Peacock. Why was it?

A: I chose the name Peacock because I love the bird. Moreover, most hotels were using the names of animals, such as Rhino Hotel, Lion Hotel, and so on.
I thought of being a little different and used the bird’s name. Interesting enough on the opening day a peacock was seen on one of the hotel’s balconies.

Q: This was a big project to accomplish, what was the project cost?

A: This hotel is owned by my family. We did not have any special investment set aside for this project. It was rather built through the accumulation of funds with the help of a loan from NBC. Therefore, I cannot really tell what the full cost of the project was. All I can say is that, I thank God who enabled me to have this modern hotel.

Q: What expansion have you done ever since?

A: Between 2001 and 2003, I was able to acquire other three nearby plots where we have additional 53 rooms, a parking lot, a swimming pool and gymnasium.
There are also two conference centres that can take up to 80 visitors. We also have two bars and a restaurant that can accommodate 100 visitors at a go.

Q: What are your future plans?

A: I have a sizeable area in Kigamboni which is earmarked for future developments, including a hotel and a golf course. Apart from Dar es Salaam, I also have an ongoing hotel construction project in Iringa.

Q: Who would you consider as the pillars of your success?

A: First of all, I thank God for all the achievements. I cannot not forget my parents, and family who have been by my side all the way. The government of Tanzania has also been very supportive, including Tanzania Investment Centre (TIC).

Q: What is your message to Who’s who Tanzania?

A: I would advise you expand it to have more than one version of the publication. You have started well, as you focus on Tanzanians it is useful to Tanzanians.

Q: What is your message to young people?

A: I recall Barack Obama, who emphasised that the youth should become self-employed as Africa has opportunities for the youth. What I see is that there is great fear among the youth in becoming entrepreneurs. Especially for those, who have gone through formal education to university level. I have been asked before in an interview whether I regret for not being educated. I replied that I really did not regret as it was lack of education that pushed me to be an entrepreneur. However, if a young person receives education and becomes a disciplined entrepreneur, he or she will become successful. Entrepreneurs who succeed in life have humble beginnings. A number of successful businesspeople today started from small enterprises. Someone who starts with a capital of Sh10,000 and maintains financial discipline in building capital thereon has a greater chance of becoming successful than someone who gets Sh50,000,000 from his father and has no financial discipline.