A former regional press journalist whose career included stints on the Cambridge News and The Scotsman has written a book about his early days on newspapers in East Africa.

During the course of a 53-year career, Jim Dow has been business editor of The Scotsman and has also worked on the Galloway Gazette, Fifeshire Advertiser and Cambridge News.

But he began his days in journalism in a very different environment, on papers in Tanzania and Kenya at the time the independence movements against British rule were gathering steam.

His contacts book included some of the biggest names in African politics of the time including Jomo Kenyatta, Julius Nyerere, Milton Obote and Kenneth Kaunda, all of whom went on to rule their respective countries.

Jim went to East Africa as a schoolboy in 1950 and went to school in Nairobi at a time the Mau Mau movement was attempting to oust the British.

He later joined the Tanganyika Standard in Dar es Salaam as a trainee reporter and later moved to the East African Standard in Nairobi.

“My next move was to get the prized job of being the district man in Nakuru, about 90 miles away, which meant I had to cover half of Kenya, and driving 200-300 miles to a political meeting was commonplace,” he recalls.

“I covered political rallies up and down the country, murder trials, elephants rampaging, hippos street-walking and even witch doctors influencing the performance of football teams.

“I got to know all the politicians of the time – including Julius Nyerere, Jomo Kenyatta and Daniel arap Moi.

“In one room in Tororo just over the Uganda border I had an exclusive interview with Kenyatta, Milton Obote – in line to rule Uganda – Kenneth Kaunda – to rule what was to become Zambia – and Joshua Nkomo – the favourite to rule what became Zimbabwe but Mugabe beat him to it.”

Jim eventually decided to come back to Britain and resume his journalistic career on UK regional titles.

He says: “One of my last jobs in Kenya was to accompany the Gordon Highlanders as they went in, guns blazing, to quell mutineers seeking to take over the country.

“My next job was at the Eaton Socon school sports in Huntingdonshire where I was chasing a schoolboy to get his name and address because he had won the egg and spoon race. That’s journalism for you.”

Jim’s book, entitled African Dow, is published by Athena Press.