Lila na Fila, havitangamani.

 

Tangamana - 1 mix, be together. 2 be in agreement with, be in harmony with.

Msemo (aphorism)

Lila na Fila, havitangamani.

(With) " Lila and Fila," (the statement) is not mixed up.

—Lila na Fila are the hypothetical names used in putting a case in legal disquisitions, like A, B, C, etc., in ordinary English. Or John Doe, Jane Doe, Richard Roe.

Further interpretations: Perhaps and actuality are not the same; Good and evil will not mix.

Used when two situations must not be conflated. The case of Lila is not the same as that of Fila. Lila and Fila in Kiswahili legal cases were personified as two twin girls.

For comparison, under the legal terminology of Ancient Rome, the names "Numerius Negidius" and "Aulus Agerius" were used in relation to hypothetical defendants and plaintiffs respectively. The practice evolved into English common law where the names "John Doe" (or "John Do") and "Richard Roe" (along with "John Roe") were regularly invoked in English legal instruments to satisfy technical requirements governing standing and jurisdiction, beginning perhaps as early as the 14^th century. British  lawyers adopted  the name John,  the most common English  male name. The rationale behind the choices of Doe and Roe is unknown, though there are many suggested folk etymologies.

The use of fictitious parties in legal proceedings and for instruction continues today. John Doe, Jane Doe, Richard Roe, Mary Roe, John Stiles, and Richard Miles are common fictitious litigants, with the name John Doe being used most frequently as the fictitious litigant. 

 

References & Further Reading

Names: A Journal of Onomastics, (1 December 1972). "Note". Names. Vol 20 (4): 297–300.

Taylor, W.E. (1891). African Aphorisms: Saws from Swahili-land. Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge, London.

TUKI (2001), Kamusi Ya Kiswahili-Kiingereza; Swahili-English Dictionary. Published by Taasisi ya Uchunguzi wa Kiswahili (TUKI), Chuo Kikuu cha Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.