Akida was a title of indigenous rural officials in Tanganyika. During the German East African rule, the Germans adopted the title from pre-colonial Zanzibar-based administration, investing it with greater power. Under German rule, akidas headed administrative units overseeing several small countryside chiefs (called jumbe) and functioned as tax collectors, policemen, and lower judges. Their judicial role was recognized under the British colonial administration which took over from Germans following World War I.