A beautiful article in remembrance of the Giant Wahome Mutahi! Rest in peace Wahome! You kept us amused and human over a long period of time with your great column "Whispers!"
Quoting Owor Kipenji <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>: > Sunday July 27, 2003 > > > --------------------------------- > LIFESTYLE MAGAZINE HOME > --------------------------------- > > > > > Humble origins of a national icon By PETER KIMANI > > The Sunset Grill is a boisterous city restaurant that lives up to its claim > of being the place "where the sun never sets". On the day the TV flashes news > of Mr Wahome Mutahi's passing, a stunned silence engulfs the satirist's > favourite haunt. > It is at Sunset that his friends put a knife on the tenuous relationship > between the fictional Whispers of the Sunday Nation fame and Wahome. > And it is in separating the humourist from the man that Wahome's varied > talents become apparent. > Actor-activist Ndungi Githuku, who co-authored the prophetic musical > Makaririra Kioro with Wahome, says: "Whispers and Wahome were two different > people, but he was the same person." > Mr Githuku says the laid-back Whispers contrasted sharply with the > hard-working Wahome #318; who was always dedicated and committed to his art. > > "No matter what time he retired at night," Mr Githuku reminisces, "he always > kept his appointments however early. He always beat me to it. > "He was an ordinary man who was so extraordinary," says Mr Githuku, "I have > not met any person as creative." > Speaking in 1991 interview after the launch of his novel, Three Days on the > Cross, "I can be very, very serious." That seriousness would become apparent > a few months later when the book won the Jomo Kenyatta Memorial Prize for > Literature. > "It takes a lot of faith in one#314;s nation and commitment to the cause of > justice and social fair play to make a rendition such as Three Days on the > Cross," says Mr Barrack Muluka of the novel Wahome wrote about his > incarceration. > "More so when the environment in which that rendition is made is [still] > predominantly totalitarian," adds Mr Muluka, who is the Managing Director of > the East African Educational Publishers. > Wahome gave new meaning to expressions which only he could tell their origin. > Over time, they became firmly embedded in Kenya#314;s everyday expressions. > > "The highest tribute to his art is the fact that many of his character > sketches and phrases became part of the everyday," says renowned author Ngugi > wa Thiong'o, who taught Wahome at the University of Nairobi in the 1970s, and > now a Distinguished Professor of Literature at the University of California, > US. "He provided images by which people could look at themselves and make > sense of what was happening around them." > The 1982 birth of Whispers column was humble: "I used to like reading Mambo's > sarcastic pieces," Wahome said in an interview last year, alluding to a > columnist with whom he worked at the East African Standard. > "I decided to come up with little snippets, the funny little things we do not > want to say openly, but which are nonetheless true. I called the column > Whispers as whatever I wrote were things that people never discussed beyond > whispers." > But the public mood was somewhat tense, following the abortive 1982 military > coup; a wave of fear and panic was spreading across the country. When the > crackdown on Mwakenya suspects commenced, Wahome could not escape the > dragnet. > "Whenever I read of the arrest and automatic imprisonment of yet another > Mwakenya suspect," Wahome reflected in a Nation article in 2000, "I would > say, 'What an idiot! How could he join an underground movement whose > leadership and membership does not seem to have an idea about keeping their > tracks covered? What kind of underground movement is this, anyway, whose > members are all admitting guilt in the court of law as if they are members of > a choir in a sing-song?'" > He got the appropriate answers, he wrote, when he was himself arrested: "Like > all those suspects I had read about, I went to court and pleaded guilty to a > charge related to Mwakenya activities. I pleaded guilty to those charges > after spending one month in the basement of Nyayo House where, like the rest, > I had been held incommunicado and tortured. > "We boarded the prison van to serve prison sentences for offences that we had > been induced to admit by 30 days and 30 nights of being stripped naked, > beaten, starved, humiliated and threatened with death. A prison sentence > looked a better prospect than a day longer in Nyayo House," Wahome wrote. > He turned the coarse jail life into a whetstone where he sharpened his pen: > "After his imprisonment, his satire became more biting," says Mr D.H. Kiiru, > the chairman of the Literature Department at the University of Nairobi. > "Instead of silencing him, the experience sharpened his gift." > Mr Kiiru adds that Wahome's "courage as a literary figure" was displayed by > his critical works at a time when the political mood curtailed such > expression. > "His works were very political and critical of anything dehumanising," he > says , adding: "One major legacy of Wahome's was to show the power and beauty > of satirical writing. He kept Kenyans entertained much as he has helped them > understand their environment. For me, he surpassed other newspaper > satirists." > Mr Muluka pays tribute to a great artist: "From his thespian days with the > Free Travelling Theatre Troupe of the University of Nairobi in the 1970s, > Wahome never looked back from his commitment to educating us by making us > laugh at ourselves. He gave invaluable advice to our authors, both young and > seasoned, and contributed immensely to the growth of our literature list." > Wahome's own list of writings is long, and includes The Jailbugs, which > scrubbed beneath the labyrinth of Kenya's jails to expose the rot at its > core, and How To Be a Kenyan, a runaway success that stamped his authority > and growing stature on the literary scene. > "He was part of the second generation of writers in Kenya who represented a > continuation of our writing," says Mr Kiiru. > "The cutting wit and satire in this book," adds Mr Muluka, "makes you so shy > of being Kenyan that you do not wish to show it to a foreigner, yet the > humour that informs it makes you feel cruel to deny anyone the opportunity to > read this book." > Wahome's other books, Doomsday, which was inspired by the August 1998 bombing > of the US embassy, and The Dream Merchants, co-authored with Mr Wahome > Karengo, which was launched while Wahome lay in hospital in a coma. > Poet Sam Mbure worked closely with Wahome, first at the Writers Association > of Kenya, and later at the Freedom of Expression Network for the Defence of > Media in Africa. > "I have lost a friend, Kenya has lost a friend," mourns Mr Mbure. "We will > always miss him. It's a pity he has passed on now, when we a have a new > government in which we have hope." > Wahome was fascinated by the idiosyncrasies that define our Kenyanness, and > wrote extensively on what traps the masses in poverty and misrule. > "He addressed contemporary issues in a very creative way," says Prof Octavia > Gakuru, the chairman of the Sociology Department at the University of > Nairobi. "He captured the conflicts and tensions of the modern family." > Wahome's portraits of the humdrum rural existence and the emerging urban > culture poignantly mirrored the nation's dilemma, while ensuring his readers > understood, and recognised the fact that his writing was largely informed by > their day-to-day living. > Whether recounting his eventful childhood, his travails as an altar boy, and > his eventual life as a writer, Wahome put a personal touch to his writing � > and everyone felt that they knew him in a very personal way. > Through the laughter lines, Wahome provided penetrating vistas into a society > he loved and cared for, and served faithfully. > It may seem that he was born to write, but art came late to him. In the > beginning, it was the Church that beckoned him, and in 1971, he joined the St > Thomas Aquinas Major Seminary. > Although he would leave the seminary, Wahome remained a very religious > person. > "In spite of everything, Whispers was a man of faith," says Fr Dominic > Wamugunda, the University of Nairobi chaplain. "There was a lot of religion > in his column." > He had worked in the Civil Service, where he briefly served as a District > Officer, first in Meru, and later in Machakos. But it was in creative writing > and journalism that Wahome found expression, and great success. > "He had incredibly sophisticated writing skills even at the undergraduate > level," reflects Prof Micere Mugo, who taught Wahome at the University of > Nairobi and is currently teaching at Syracuse University in the US. > "He was a model student: attentive, serious, deeply reflective and > self-motivated. A man of few words, rather shy during his student days, the > strength of his voice was in his writing." > "I recall him as a bright student in my classes way back in the seventies," > says Prof Ngugi, who considers Wahome "one of the brightest products of the > University of Nairobi in the glorious 1970s". > "His death is a loss to his family, to Kenya and Africa. There is no doubt in > my mind that he had become a national icon and many readers in and outside > Kenya looked forward to his humorous but incisive observation of the Kenyan > scene." > In his final years, it was to theatre that Wahome turned. It was full cycle > as previously, he had a fleeting affair with the University of Nairobi's Free > Travelling Theatre. > Mugathe Mubogothi replayed the jaundiced political class that lorded it over > Kenya for years, and Mugathe Ndotono rehashed the autocracy that went with > political short-sightedness. Makaririra Kioro (They Shall Cry In The Toilet) > refined these themes: its ambition was huge, its vision, bold #318; and very > prophetic. > But Wahome went further: he took theatre to the people, performing in venues > across the country. On that score, his efforts popularised theatre, an effort > only comparable to Prof Ngugi's Kamirithu experience, when he took his plays > to villagers in his native Limuru. > His experimentation with the Kikuyu language, first in theatre and later in > prose, writing for publications such as Inooro, and Mwihoko - both published > by the Catholic Diocese of Murang'a - attested to Wahome's unwavering belief > that meaningful change could only come from the people rather than political > systems. > "Wahome had faith in the people's ability to change things," says Fr > Wamugunda. > "As a playwright, he added to the new movement of writing in African > languages," says Prof Ngugi, the celebrated author who elected to write in > Kikuyu two decades ago. > His interest in politics nearly pushed him into the political arena, and he > even announced his intention to vie for a parliamentary seat. But after > consulting his friends, Mr Githuku reveals, Wahome changed his mind #318; > perhaps by realising he had a national constituency through his writing. > "He always felt a responsibility to his national audience," says Mr Kiiru, > who ran a column that Wahome edited during his stint as Nation's Arts and > Culture Editor. > Sunday Nation's deputy chief sub-editor Joe Mbuthia concurs. Wahome always > delivered his column, even when outside the country. > "He was in a class of his own," says Mr Mbuthia. "He never suffered from > writer's block, despite pleasing everyone on all fronts #318; theatre, > humour, fiction, and even when you met." > "He was an asset to the country," says cartoonist Paul Kelemba. In 1991, Mr > Kelemba and Wahome formed a media company, and the cartoonist illustrated the > early Whispers columns. "He was a friend." > His later columns were well illustrated by the equally able Samwel Kuria aka > Kourier, who brought Whispers to life in such a way that when one thinks of > Whispers, the first thing that comes to mind are the cartoons. > "Even in death, Wahome is full of life, full of creativity and full of > laughter in my mind," says Fr Wamugunda, "I will always remember him with a > smile." > It'll be hard for Kenyans to live without Wahome, even harder for his wife, > Ricarda Njoki, and their three children. Perhaps they shall find comfort in > Mary Frye's song in Jack Stamp's Canticle: > "Do not stand at my grave and weep, > I am not there, I do not sleep > I am a thousand winds that blow, > I am the diamond glints on snow > I am the sunlight on ripened grain, > I am the gentle autumn rain > When you awaken in the morning's hush, > I am the swift uplifting rush > Of quiet birds in circled flight, > I am the soft stars that shine at night > Do not stand at my grave and cry, > I am not there, I did not die." > Comments\Views about this article > > > > > > > Site designed and hosted by Nation Media Group. Copyright 2003. Contact > > > > --------------------------------- > Want to chat instantly with your online friends?�Get the FREE > Yahoo!Messenger
