276 notes to pages 214–238
- Previous forms of this confidence trick can be traced back to the late Middle Ages in
Europe. Desiderius Erasmus describes a variant involving the transformation of coal into
gold in “The Beggar’s Dialogue,” which he wrote around 1500 (Erasmus 1878). I would like to
thank Daniel Künzler for drawing my attention to this. - The trick of transforming white notes into money by allegedly using special technology
was practiced in neighboring Cameroon in the late 1990s—in particular, in circles involving
the internationally active fraudster Donatien Koagne (Malaquais 2001). I would assume that
the fraudsters for whom Tahir built the money machine took their inspiration from this. - Indeed, some fraudsters avail themselves of the ritual protection provided by magicians.
The scammers I interviewed stated that while they did not turn to the magicians for assis-
tance, other scammers are reputed to do this. For example, Ghana has been kept in suspense
since 2009 by sakawa, an ideational complex, in which the success of email-initiated, advance-
fee fraud is linked with occult practices (cf. Witte 2009). - The music video can be seen at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qRsSDvQ1EQ.
Ironically, former secretary of state Colin Powell danced to this song on stage during a black
music festival in London (BBC News 2008). - “crazy white men”
- This is a characterization made by Espen Sørensen (aka Mzungu Kichaa) on the now-
defunct website of his former band, Effigong (http://www.effigong.com/effigong/bio.html
[accessed June 1, 2013; url no longer active]). - Except when indicated otherwise, this biographical sketch is based on an interview I
conducted with Espen Sørensen on November 14, 2013, in Hamburg, as well as on his web
(http://www.mzungukichaa.com), Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/mzungukichaa),
and Myspace (https://myspace.com/mzungukichaa) pages. - The information presented is based on an interview I conducted with Eric Sell on Sep-
tember 20, 2013, in Cologne, and on information gathered from his pages at diverse web sites,
such as http://www.eesy-ees.com, http://www.yes-ja.com, http://www.facebook.com
/eesmusic, and http://www.youtube.com/eesyees. - See http://www.facebook.com/eesmusic/info.
- This biographical sketch is based on information gathered at http://www.facebook.com
/WhiteNigerian and http://youtube.com/user/mohammedjammal, as well as from an essay
published by Mohammed Jammal at http://www.bellanaija.com (White Nigerian 2013). - In Tanzania for example, the producers at the biggest private television station, itv,
must have been fully aware of Mzungu Kichaa’s exoticism when calling on him to join the
team of judges on Bongo Star Search, the Tanzanian version of The X Factor. Presumably, his
being white adds glamor to the show and gives it more global appeal. - It is important to note, though, that Johnny Clegg was often called the “White Zulu.”
However, he never used this moniker as an official stage name. - In our interview, Mzungu Kichaa referred to working for the Danish jewelry company,
Pilgrim, whose development-oriented foundation he helped build from 2006 to 2008. At the
time, he coordinated the foundation’s programs in Tanzania and also helped establish the
company’s fair-trade jewelry line. Moreover, his parents had also been involved in develop-
ment work. - According to EES, the deal was meant to work both ways, as Gazza hoped to gain access
to white Namibian audiences, who constitute a profitable segment of the Namibian music
market.