Popobawa’s first Zanzibar panic

Record summary

Popobawa is a night-visiting spirit or assault figure associated with a major panic on Zanzibar, especially Pemba, in 1965. Reports describe attacks, warnings, household rituals and public fear, with later outbreaks periodically attached to the same name. The episode matters for comparison because it is one of the clearest African examples of a contemporary legend spreading through oral communication, rumor and political-social tension rather than through an ancient mythic text. The chronology, first locality and details of alleged encounters remain disputed, and retrospective accounts often merge the 1965 episode with later panics.