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Maillu’s After 4.30 still relevant 50 years on

There is something about Mathemboni that makes you want to keep going back.

Last Saturday was my third time, since November last year, and it definitely will not be the last. There is a certain aura of peace that pervades the place. Situated on a hilly place, Mathemboni, to those who have never been there, is full of all manner of exotic trees. This is the perfect place for meditation, to be one with nature, away from the hustle and bustle of the city.

Mathemboni, in Kikamba, means the place of shrines. That is precisely what writer David Maillu had in mind when he developed the place that sits on a ten-acre piece of land. It is a shrine of knowledge.

When you consider that Maillu, who is now 86, has been at the writing game since the early seventies – his inkpot is still brimming full – then you know that you are walking into a museum of sorts.

A visit to Mathemboni, which is at the border of Machakos and Makueni counties, near a town called Kola, is not complete without the host taking you on a tour of the place. For example, the main houses are built in the shape of medieval castles, using material collected from various places. What you see is a castle, but Maillu will tell you that the storied building was inspired by the Akamba Kiondo.

The main compound is dotted with sculptures, ranging from the Ankh, an ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphic symbol, representing life, to a sculpture of Syokimau, the Kamba prophetess, who foresaw the coming of the colonialists to Kenya as well as the railway. The latest addition is the giant President Donald Trump Shithole, which basically houses toilets.

Listening to Maillu explaining things, from African spirituality to philosophy and writing, is like flipping through the pages of an encyclopaedia; you just want to listen and listen some more.

On the second floor of the main building is an open-air conference hall, which on this particular day hosted a one of a kind book club meeting. I am not a member of the Not Nerdy Book Club, but when I saw their poster announcing that their March, 2025 session would be held at Mathemboni, I was determined not to miss.

I had met Cheryl Kamy, the founder of Net Nerdy, at a book event at the Alliance Française, in February, and expressed interest in attending one of their sessions. Turns out that Not Nerdy have an arrangement with Mvua Press, the newest and coolest publisher in town, to feature some of their books in their sessions. What a novel way of marketing books!

What made this particular book club session even more attractive was the fact that they were featuring one of Maillu’s classics After 4.30. Now, anyone who has read some of Maillu’s earlier books, knows that they are full of fireworks, right from the use of language to the imagery employed.

Older generations, from GenX upwards, have hilarious recollections of their encounters with Maillu’s books. Almost all confess that they consumed the books in secret and very few read the complete text. There were bits and pieces of the books doing rounds in the villages/estates and schools. This is testament to how sinfully popular these books were.

In a previous interview, Maillu summed up the who whole experience of his books among the masses then. “I knew of households that, at any one time, had three copies of my book,” he explains. “The husband had a copy, the wife had a copy and the children had theirs too. None of the three parties knew the rest had the book.”

Now the membership of Not Nerdy is entirely made up of millennials and the occasional GenZees. Seeing as After 4.30 was written in 1974, way before each one of them were born, I was curious to know what their take on the book is.

All of them were unanimous that the issues raised in the book are as relevant, if not more relevant than they were at the time of its publication. “When I started reading the book, I was shocked and I asked myself, ‘who is this beautiful woman who is speaking for me?’ and then I turned back to the cover to confirm that it was written by a man and not a woman, as I had thought,” Maya Suleiman told Maisha Yetu.

She added that it was eye-opening for her that a man would so accurately tell a woman’s experience. “It is amazing that the book was written in the early seventies and can I relate to it in 2025.” she added. “For raising issues so close to the hearts of women, I would say that Maillu was feminist and not of the toxic variety.”

Peter Karuga, a banker, was impressed by the diverse themes raised in the book. “Despite the fact that the book was written over 50 years ago, we are still experiencing the same problems encountered then. The poverty that was prevalent at the turn of independence and attendant issues like the gender-based violence are still the same problems we are grappling with in today’s world.”

June Jose noted the finesse with which the author raised the sensitive issue of gender-based violence, which is still as prevalent as it was back then when the book was written. “It is amazing how despite the difference in time, the issues remain the same. The book is highly recommendable especially with us people of the younger generations.”

Maureen Wairimu was especially fascinated by how Maillu raises the issue of religion and spirituality. “This book really spoke to me because lately I have been deconstructing some long-held religious beliefs,” she explained. “I identified with a character in the book called Emily, who questions the whole concept of confessing her sins to a pastor. Why bestow so much power on a fellow human being to determine how your sins would be absolved? There is more to religion than we are taught.”

What about the language?

“I loved the rawness of language used in the book; that is what attracted me to it,” added Wairimu. “There are people who might be shocked by the language used and might call it vulgar; it is because they don’t want to call a spade a spade. I am not at all shocked by the language; on the contrary, I loved it.”

While Jose acknowledged that the language used is ‘strong’, she said it is necessary when it comes to dealing with difficult issues like Gender-based violence.

As a Muslim woman, Suleiman is not offended by the language used and themes explored in the book. “The issue of violence against women, which features prominently in the book, cuts across religions,” she said.

Kamy started Not Nerdy in October 2022 because she wanted to be in a community of readers. “Through our online activities, we got to meet with the people at Mvua Press, which is an imprint of eKitabu, and we quickly discovered that we shared common ideals like the love of books. They also wanted us to help popularise the books they publish and distribute,” she explained.

Isaac Mwangi, the managing editor of Mvua Press says that they work with a wide range of stakeholders in the publishing industry to advance the interests of authors, publishers and book lovers. “One of our strategies is to work with book clubs such as Not Nerdy. We are happy to see book clubs mushrooming around the country as they play an important role in enhancing critical reading skills,” he explains.

Mvua Press does a number of activities aimed at encouraging a reading and writing culture, especially among students and young people. “These include the annual Digital Essay Competition as well as short poetry and fiction submissions from young writers across the country. Hopefully, these activities and book clubs will assist in the emergence of not only future authors, but also avid readers and spoken word artists,’’ adds Mwangi.

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Kombani reflects on 20-year journey with Villains of Molo

  • Maisha Yetu: Congratulations on your book turning 20. What does this milestone mean to you?

    Kinyanjui Kombani: Wueh! How time flies!

    First, it is an opportunity to reflect on my own writing and publishing journey. Life moves so quickly that we forget about how far we have come. When I wrote the book, all I wanted was to see it on a shelf at a bookshop — specifically, at the now-closed Bookpoint, on Kenyatta Avenue. They had book dummies displayed as you passed by the shop, and I couldn’t wait to have mine up there, with the rest. To have ‘The Last Villains of Molo’ become part of a national conversation – mentioned as one of the top Kenyan books of all time and studied in schools and universities – that was not part of the plan!

    Secondly, it grants us, as Kenyans, the opportunity to think harder about our future. 20 years is a long time to rethink our national politics and the accumulated impact of the politics of division. For me, this milestone means giving a lot more reflection to where our country is heading. Most of the issues I addressed in the book – tribalism, poverty, mob justice, extra-judicial killings, politically instigated ethnic strife, and more – remain constants. How long shall we allow our leaders to sow the seeds of discord among us?

    • Your dream of becoming a published author with The Last Villains of Molo was almost thwarted despite it being ‘published’ with glowing reviews in the papers; tell us more about this trying episode for you…

    Yes. Although the book was released in 2005, it was not made available until 2008 when we had a formal book launch at the Alliance Francaise. It was missing from the bookshelves years later and, frustrated at seeing my dreams shattered, I started shopping for a new publisher. Luckily, my first publisher did not resist the withdrawal request, only insisting that I buy all the books in stock. The book was re-released by Longhorn Publishers under a new cover. And the rest is history.

    Like I said, I never thought my book was going to be as big as it became. It was my first publisher who suggested that it had the potential to be a school text. When he asked me what I would do if I got  millions in royalties, my dream of a LandCruiser VX was born!

    • When you wrote the manuscript for this book you were a university student, with no access to a computer, let alone a typewriter, what was it that kept your dream alive when others would have thrown in the towel?

    I lived with my brothers in Ngando, a sprawling estate behind Ngong Road in a single roomed house (this was the setting of ‘Villains’). We didn’t have most of the resources that are available to us now – cyber café charges were 10 shillings a minute!

    I got help from my neighbours and friends – the Mudola family. They had a cyber café in Langata and would allow me to use their computer when there were no clients. In fact, the bulk of the manuscript was typed by Dorothy Mudola. She believed in the story and wanted to see it come to life.

    I also had great encouragement from my mentor David Mulwa. He had read the initial handwritten manuscript and wrote “This is a masterpiece! Have it typed and submitted for publishing.” He kept asking about the progress, so I had to keep at it. The late Gachanja Kiai, one of my other lecturers who read my initial stories, and who introduced me to the publisher, was also following up on progress. 

    The publisher accepted the manuscript on condition that I rewrite a huge part of it. We had to get rid of about a third of it (which explains why a part of the book felt rushed – spoiler alert “Stella”). But by this time the cyber café at Langata had been closed and I was about to lose the publishing opportunity. I managed to slide past the then Kenyatta University Vice Chancellor Prof George Eshiwani’s security and told him of my plight. He turned to his personal assistant and instructed her to let me have all the support I needed. From that day, I had access to three secretaries – I would write the manuscript at night and submit it to them in the morning for typing. That is how I managed to beat the deadline. 

    • You were probably the very first Kenyan writer to address the thorny issue of ethnically instigated clashes, what fired this zeal?

    We lived in Molo until 1995 when I went to boarding school in Form 1 and then moved to our ancestral home in Njoro. We were to later meet the family of Mzee Joseph Mbure who had been displaced from Kamwaura in the 1997 clashes. My grandmother had given them a house and some land to till until they could move back. I heard the old man’s recollections about the clashes. Later on, I went to the Nation Centre Library where I discovered, to my horror, that his stories were factual.  The Last Villains of Molo started out as a short story but grew into a full length novel.

    We lived in Molo town during the 1992 clashes. One of my brothers was walking in town with my sister when he was hauled into a lorry to go fight in the forest. I was at the Molo hospital when a man was brought in with an arrow lodged in his forehead. One of our teachers, a Kalenjin, asked one of my brothers to take care of his house while he left town when the situation became untenable. All these are incidents  that made it into the novel.

    When I went to university, I discovered that my roommate had also experienced the clashes in Molo. He gave me harrowing descriptions about surviving the clashes by sleeping in fields of napier grass.

    I felt that these were stories that needed to be told, fictionally. And nobody was telling them.

    • We are two and half years to the 2027 General Elections and we’re already hearing inciteful ethnic rhetoric from politicians, are Kenyans that forgetful, despite the outcome of the 2007 election, that landed some politicians at the International Criminal Court?

    I don’t think Kenyans are forgetful. We all remember our collective suffering – not only from the 1992 clashes, but from all clashes that have happened every election period. The problem is that we have allowed our politicians to continue to use us for political expediency. We have allowed them to keep using the same tribal rhetoric, spiced with words like ‘murima’ and ‘madoadoa.’  And the resurgence of the Mungiki, spurred on by obvious political patronage by our leadership, spells even more danger. 

    But then, we have a more enlightened youth who have no more allegiance to tribe. Conversations on social media are mostly about issues. I quoted David Mulwa in the novel: “The young refuse the bonds of the past, the bonds of hate.” And I think this is going to be true in the coming years. Gone are the days when we allow ourselves to see the enemy as tribe X or Y. And people are quick to call out politicians.

    I think we have a better-informed electorate, and in the future, we will be able to vote in leaders who do not preach violence. I will be surprised if these war mongers come back to power.

    • What are some of the milestones this book has enjoyed and what it has done to you as an author?

    Man! Where do I start?

    I constantly receive messages on social media from people who have read and being impacted by the book. This for me is a huge motivator to keep writing.

    The book has also been studied in schools and at university level. I receive may queries from people who are studied it and who are stuck in one way or the other. I am not of much help, sadly, what with topics such as “Literary Historiographical Analysis of Kinyanjui Kombani’s The Last Villains of Molo’! See – when I write I just want to tell a story. Historiographical analysis – whatever that means – is not part of the plan!

    The book was mentioned in The Guardian as one of the top 10 books about Kenya. It has been mentioned in other Top-Something lists. We have optioned the book for film production. However, it has yet to gain a commitment for a film budget. We keep looking!

    As a writer, I must confess that it was a hard act to follow. I had put my heart and soul into it, and I didn’t think I had any other story in me. It was more than five years later that I could attempt a second novel – Den of Inequities – which also did well.

    Early success in my career meant that I could experiment with different ideas, hence the shift to faster-paced, simpler and definitely not darker books like ‘Of Pawns and Players’ and ‘Hawkers-Pokers’. My writing style is now much more different.

    • You recently took to Facebook to shop for ideas on how to celebrate this 20-year milestone, you must have received plenty of them by now…

    Yes, I reached out to my connections on social media for ideas on how to commemorate the milestone – because the book is a success thanks to them. I received dozens of ideas within a few hours.

    Some of the ideas we are going with is a release of a reading of an excerpt of the book by my friend and mentor, the legendary John Sibi-Okumu, OGW. JSO will also be reading other excerpts live in March.

    On 21 February 2025. we will be having a Readers’ Special Space on X / Twitter featuring appearances by people who have been part of the novel – from those who inspired it to those who have taught it at high school/university level, to those who have read it for fun. We will also have a slew of other X Spaces to reflect on Kenya’s tumultuous history, and the challenges ahead of us.

    Additionally, there are commemorative articles to be published across the media houses and two special radio shows. We will have virtual panel conversations with other writers who have handled ethnic conflict in Kenya, in addition to live Ask-Me-Anything sessions on Tiktok, Facebook and Instagram. I am excited at the lineup of people who have raised their hands to be part of this conversation.

    We are also working on exciting giveaways in collaboration with Nuria Books and Longhorn Publishers.

    • You are also known as the ‘banker who writes’, how do you combine the two roles?

    First, I am glad to work with a company that allows me to use my talent as a writer. This is not a luxury enjoyed by most creatives. There are lots of interdependencies between the two careers – I believe I am a better writer because I am a banker, and a better banker because I am a writer. In my role as a Learning & Development specialist, I get to use my creativity to design, develop and deploy learning solutions. And when it comes to building my brand as a writer, I borrow a leaf from the bank, especially with the need to have a greater purpose. Finding my ‘why’ helps to refine my ‘what’ and ‘how’, and helps me to prioritise what is of greatest impact to my purpose. I constantly ask, as our head of Strategy and Talent does, “What is this in service of”?

    Secondly, I do not want to pretend that it is easy. Working in a global role in an international bank means that I must make a lot of sacrifices so as not to drop the ball. You also don’t want anyone to think that any ball is dropping because of my other activities.

    I see it as priorities management rather than time management. For me, this means that when I am working in the bank, I give it 150%, and when I can make time for writing I get rid of other distractions. I have to choose what I am saying yes to, more carefully, because it means saying not to conflicting agendas.

    • Ever since the publication of The Last Villains of Molo, you have enjoyed quite the ride as a writer, winning literary awards in the process; take us through that…

    I was shortlisted for the 2005 Rhodes Scholarship and won the ‘Outstanding Young Alumni Award’ by Kenyatta University in 2014. In 2015, I was named in the Top 40 Under 40 Business Daily Africa Award and a ‘Top 5 Under 35 Award’ at Standard Chartered Bank (an award to recognize the most outstanding colleague under 35 years).

    In 2017, I was shortlisted CODE Burt Award for African Young Adult Fiction for Finding Columbia, which went on to win the 2018 African edition and is now a school text for Grade 7. I was also a national finalist for my books Do or Do and Eve’s Invention. This is the first time a writer had been a double finalist in the national edition of the Burt awards.

    In 2019 my book Of Pawns and Players won the Wahome Mutahi Literary Award. In the same year, ‘Do or Do’ won the Jomo Kenyatta Prize for Literature, Youth Category. These are considered Kenya’s most prestigious literary awards, and this has been great for me.

    I have also been invited to be part of Nairobi Noir – an anthology excavating the history of Nairobi, as seen through the eyes of its dwellers. I was also involved in ‘Toto Tales/Fabulous Four’ a children’s series, The Kenya Yearbook Editorial Board-commissioned project to create a children’s version of their popular Kenya Yearbook.

    1. Emerging writers moan about limited opportunities for getting published, hence the rise of self-publishing in Kenya, what are your thoughts on this phenomenon?

    Upcoming writers have always had a challenge getting published by traditional publishers. I blame this on the way the publishing industry is set up, with majority of sales coming through school texts. The result of this is that publishers go for writers and books that are most likely to make it through to the school curriculum, with little to no investment in books for leisure reading. Those of us who manage to crack through the brick wall are the exception rather than the rule. And even then, we have to wait years for publishing diaries to align.

    The good news is that there more opportunities for self-publishing. A lot of professionals have emerged to offer services such as editorial consulting (John Sibi-Okumu, Euniah Mbabazi, Mwende Kyalo and Jennie Marima to name a few) previously the preserve of employees from publishing houses. Distribution challenges, which have limited the growth of self-publishing, are being addressed by player such as the indefatigable Nuria Store.

    I strongly say that the future of Kenyan publishing is in self-publishing. Gone are the days when one had to wait for the gatekeeping publishing executives to get your work out there. Writers like Charles Chanchori, Scholar Akinyi, Lesalon Kasaine, Vera Omwocha, Ciku Kimani, Munira Hussein are good examples of writers who have built audiences of eager readers who want to read for enjoyment and are thriving. And The Book bunk, Kenya Readathon, Storymoja, Macondo Litfest, Lexa Lubanga, and Soma Nami are creating a buzz around the industry. I think the industry is in good hands.

    1. Your last book, Hawkers Pokers came out two years ago, what are you currently working on?

    I wrote another humorous (hopefully) book called Fools Day in 2021, and spent most of 2024 rewriting it based on feedback from my usual group of ‘beta readers’. It is now under review for publication. I hope to have it published in time for the next Wahome Mutahi Prize consideration.

    This year I am also restarting work on a more serious novel that talks about state capture and false flag terrorism in an unnamed African country. Let’s see how that goes!

    1. There was a period you used to be quite active, promoting writing on social media, not so much today…

    Is that true? I didn’t think so, personally. But if I am, I blame it on work pressure – the last few years have been busier for me as I settled into a new role and new environment. I do not believe in hiring someone to manage my social media accounts – nobody is able to replicate my voice, and I want my readers to know they are talking to me directly when they do.

    Secondly, working in a time zone five hours ahead of me robs me of the opportunity to engage in real time with my fans. My visibility across social media was because I used to respond to as many messages as I could, something I no longer have the capacity to do. But I will continue make every effort to engage with my fan base. 

    1. By now you must be fully settled in Singapore, both career-wise and socially, what would Kenyans learn from that country and how has the move shaped your writing?

    There is a lot to learn. I hear a lot of our politicians comparing Kenya to Singapore and calling it the Singapore of Africa. This makes me sad, because Kenyan leaders want Kenya to be like Singapore, without doing the things that Singapore did to be where it is. The government of Singapore thinks of creating a perfect world for the future, decades ahead.

    Our leaders do not think beyond their current terms. A lot of them come to Singapore for ‘benchmarking’, which is disappointing because a simple thing as having dustbins available in the city is a tall order. While it rains heavily in Singapore, the drainage system ensures that the flood waters are drained off in a few hours. Tap water is safe to drink in Singapore. Every bus stop in Singapore has a dustbin. What the leadership here has, and what we lack, is Intention.

    I am exactly 5 years in Singapore this month, and we can learn a lot about vision, and leadership from Singapore. . Perhaps, one of these days, I will write something longer about this disconnect and what Kenya must do to be the true Singapore of Africa.

    I am yet to see how this experience shapes my writing. Who knows? Maybe my next character will come to stay in Singapore. Or will be Singaporean. Or a Kenyan who goes to Singapore and falls in love with a Singaporean girl who is herself a mix between Chinese and Malay. I am already brainstorming!

    1. What is your advice to budding writers looking up to you as a role model?

    The same advice that my mentor David Mulwa has kept giving me, over the years:  And that is: “Keep Writing!” Every time I have delivered a copy of my latest book to Mwalimu Mulwa, he has taken it, blessed it and asked me, “So what are you writing next?”  The more you write, the more you find your own voice and, consequently, the more confident and assured you should become, just like any other serious undertaking: “Practice makes perfect.”

    I’d also urge writers to take a lot of time and energy to build their platform on social media. Apart from allowing you to interact directly with your readers and other stakeholders, and letting you know what is happening “kwa ground”, it allows you to build your brand as a writer. Some of the successes I have had, for example, selling out Of Pawns and Players were aided by great social media presence.

    Related to this is the importance of building relationships – both virtual and physical. Readers, festival organisers, publishing executives, editors, printers, book sellers, media practitioners, bloggers – all these have been responsible for my success. Seek to build symbiotic relationships with people (not just what you can get from them, but what to add value to them). Seek out coaches, mentors and accountability partners. You will never regret it.

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    Books Culture Non-Fiction Personalities Releases Reviews

    Africa in the eyes of a retired Swiss diplomat

    TITLE: In and Outside Africa: A Story of the Human Condition in Africa and the West

    AUTHOR: Dominik Langenbacher

    PUBLISHER: Mystery Publishers

    REVIEWER: Mbugua Ngunjiri

    In the course of his long and eventful diplomatic service, Langenbacher worked in many places around the globe, but it would appear that Africa had the most profound effect on him, probably due to the fact that his first posting was in Zaire, present day Democratic Republic of Congo, in the 1981.

    Although the book contains details of his life and work experiences, and should ideally fall into the category of a memoir; it is much more than that. It is at the same time less than that.

    The book opens with a narrative on crocodiles, or rather the evolution of that reptile. “My smallest crocodile is golden and only 13 millimetres long,” writes the author. “It is actually a pin on the head of a Zairean fetish, holding together a piece of real leopard skin with a synthetic ancillary… “

    With such a dramatic introduction, rest assured that you are now embarking on a wild ride across Africa, parts of Europe and the US, but mostly Africa.

    Then there is the humour, of the gallows variety, injected liberally throughout the narrative. Sometimes it hits you out of nowhere and so you must be prepared for the abruptness of it.

    For example, in the course of his research on crocodiles, he discovered that some female crocodiles could develop embryos from an unfertilised egg, without the input of the male species. “This rare natural phenomenon is called parthenogenesis, virgin birth or asexual reproduction. No sex,” he writes.

    Now, diplomats, when not in their stifling suits and ties, conducting sometimes boring official chores, are pretty interesting chaps. They can hold their own in a discussion on almost any topic on earth. They’ve been to many different places and interacted with a wide variety of people. They will wine and dine with corrupt dictators, in castles built in the middle of jungles.

    They will also share a humble meal with pygmies who have been uprooted from forests, where they have co-existed with nature since time immemorial.

    Do you start to see the contradiction and unfairness of it all? A dictator will destroy natural habitat, to build unsightly castles in the jungle, whereas people who have taken care of jungles and forests, living harmoniously with other forms of life, are thrown out and forced to beg for cigarettes in the concrete jungle.

    In short, diplomats, have seen things and know things.

    The author writes his book the best way he knows how. While the common practice infor memoirs, the author starts from the beginning, say when they were born, or slightly before that – their parents’ existence – Langenbacher opts to start from the VERY beginning; the evolution of man. The reader should thus prepare themselves for history lessons on early man, the homo erectus, homo habilis and homo sapiens.

    Not a chapter ends without reference to those.

    Oh, and if you thought that these are just idle musings of a diplomat with so much time on his hands, you would do well to know that he has actually visited the area, north of Kenya and South of Ethiopia, which are known as the Cradle of Humanity.

    These are places that archaeologists discovered the earliest known human remains, Lucy in Ethiopia and Turkana Boy in Kenya.

    And speaking about Lucy, the author provides an interesting anecdote about how that particular fossil got its name. “The name was derived from the Beatles’ song Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, which the excavation team played repeatedly during her unearthing,” he writes.

    If you thought that diplomats spend all their time in the diplomatic districts of Muthaiga and Gigiri – this is somewhat true of the time they spend in Nairobi – you would be surprised to learn that they have probably been more places in your village than you do.

    The other thing you will have to contend with while reading this book is the amount of geography you will have to absorb. Here we are talking about the terminology your geography teacher struggled to hammer into your head during hot afternoon lessons, when you were having a real battle keeping your eyes open.

    You get to know the countries that lie in the Equator, Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn. The author also takes a historical detour and lets us reflect on the Berlin Conference of 1884/5, where European imperialists divided the African continent, amongst themselves, like a piece of pizza.

    The effects of those boundaries were communities that were torn apart, forced to live in different countries, despite shared heritage. He gives the example of the wildlife ecosystem that straddles Kenya and Tanzania – known as Maasai Mara National in Kenya and Serengeti in Tanzania. While there used to be a border post for tourists to cross to either side of the border, it has since been shut down, effectively ensuring that human traffic can’t cross to the other side of the border.

    “Fortunately, the wildebeests, gazelles and zebras that cross the border between Tanzania and Kenya, every year, during their great migration remain unburdened by the imaginary line on a map and the machinations of the human brain around it,” observes the author ruefully.

    Another thing that features prominently in the book, is the diverse cuisine of various African communities. A case in point is conversation Langenbacher had while in Ivory Coast and where he was given the definition of meat. Meat, he was informed, was ‘everything that moves but is not one of us’

    As an aside, and with a twinkle in his eye, the host told him that cannibalistic communities use the same definition for humans that are not ‘one of us’.

    East Africans, on the other hand are picky in what they eat; wild animals for Maasai pastoralists are off the menu. Donkeys ‘move and are not one us’, but are off limits.

    Oh, and there is something for Rastafarians, who consider Ethiopia their spiritual home and Haille Selassie, their spiritual head.

    In his visit to the Shashamane village in Ethiopia, which has a sizeable number of Jamaican immigrants/pilgrims, he tells the anecdote of how the former Ethiopian emperor, traces his roots to King Solomon, he of 700 wives and 300 concubines.

    The story goes that when Queen of Sheba visited King Solomon, she somehow found herself on the King’s bed, a liaison that resulted in the birth of Menelik, whom King Solomon made the king of Ethiopia. Haille Selassie comes from the lineage of Menelik.

    Due to the sheer amount of information packed in this book, be advised that this is not the kind of book you read in one sitting. You read a chapter at a time, let the knowledge sink in, before tackling another chapter.

    That said, I would have wished to read of more human interactions, particularly where he interacted with political leaders in the countries he served as an ambassador. I would give anything to know how our politicians behave when in the company of European ambassadors.

    Still, I got the distinct feeling that Dominik Langenbacher enjoyed himself immensely when writing this book.

    Ngunjiri is the curator of Maisha Yetu, a digital Arts and Books media platform mbugua5ngunjiri@gmail.com

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    Books Fiction Issues publishing Short Stories

    Text addresses vices that bedevil the African continent

    TITLE: A Body Made for Sin

    AUTHOR: Alexander Nderitu

    PUBLISHER: Self

    REVIEWER: Scholastica Moraa

    AVAILABILITY: Nuria Bookstore

    Real is how I would describe this collection. A Body Made for Sin is a carefully put together collection of ten stories based in Africa. Although most of the stories are based in Kenya, they would have well been from any African country.  They address several vices that Africa as a continent deals with; from terrorism, rogue politicians, immorality to violence.

    For readers looking for simple stories that are informative and not mind taxing, this is the book for you. A Body Made for Sin addresses terrorism events that have affected the country such as the Garissa and Westgate Mall terrorist attacks. It addresses the abuse Africans go through working in the Middle East and many more struggles. The stories are informational and entertaining and would be a great treasure for future generations who would have an easier time picturing what the current generation has gone through. Alexander Nderitu takes violent stories that would normally make headlines and weaves his words around them, thereby immortalising the stories in words just as they are imprinted in the victims’ minds and in the people who watched the horror of terrorism scar the country.

    Throughout the book, the author has placed maps to help guide the readers and give them a clear picture of where the events are taking place. This gives life to the stories and reminds the reader that they might as well be reading an actual account of events that happened, rather than just the author’s imagination. They are also a brutal reminder of the violent world we live in and how evil minds are forever plotting the peril of peace loving citizens.

    For readers who dislike complicated plots and surprise endings, this is for you. For parents who sift through books to filter what their children are reading, this may be an ideal book for young readers because the language used is palatable for fairly advanced readers, title of the book aside. It is also a well of knowledge and reminder of what our nation has gone through and keeps going through.

    Moraa is a young woman navigating life. Author of Beautiful Mess… Co Author of Dreams and Demons and I’m Listening 2021 edition. She is also the winner of Kendeka Prize of African Literature-2022. She can be found with a book or two. When she’s not fighting to stay afloat, she is daydreaming, writing poetry or reading.

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    Books Issues Non-Fiction publishing Reviews

    You will need a handkerchief to read this book

    TITLE:  Best Before ‘09

    AUTHOR: Sharon Gwada

    PUBLISHER: Self

    REVIEWER: Scholastica Moraa

    AVAILIBITY: Nuria Bookstore

    ‘There are two endings in life…; the ending you want and the ending you get’

    Grief is that thing people tell you to handle. That time will heal all wounds. Grief is that thing we all experience at some point and for some people it is just easier to not talk about it. Hoping that with time you will feel numb enough not to feel how painfully heart wrenching the pain was. Still is.

    Sharon Gwada starts her story lightly. She is just a normal girl from a normal family. A happy family. Worrying about friends, homework, her siblings, stealing mangoes and trying to stay out of getting a lashing from her parents. You can feel how laughter dances in her walls. The dreams they have. The joy. The hopes. And then tragedy strikes.

    The family learns about hospitals, kidney failures, complicated names for drugs, and mobilising family and friends to contribute to help medical bills. Through it all, you cannot help but keep your fingers crossed. Hoping against all hope that they get the ending they want. The ending you hope for them. When they get these unhappy endings, your heart breaks too.

    Fiction gives readers a reprieve. You can console yourself that the story is just something an insane writer came up with. Not with Best before ’09. There is no such comfort. Someone once said that death feels painful when it is someone you know or love. When a stranger is carried away in a coffin, you feel nothing. You are just glad it is not someone you know.  But through this book, we know the brothers.  As we heave our way through the book, we are sad that they did not make it.

    Research shows that one in three of all adults suffer from chronic conditions. This book is just a drop in the ocean of what families are going through. The love, the pain and the dedication of mothers and caregivers is felt in this book. You also cannot help but marvel at the strength it took the author to pen this story.

    For readers looking for amazing Kenyan stories, this comes highly recommended. It is emotional but unputdownable. For criers, plenty of tissues will be recommended too. May those who left before us rest in peace. And may those who loved them breathe easier.

    Moraa is a young woman navigating life. Author of Beautiful Mess… Co Author of Dreams and Demons and I’m Listening 2021 edition. She is also the winner of Kendeka Prize of African Literature-2022. She can be found with a book or two. When she’s not fighting to stay afloat, she is daydreaming, writing poetry or reading.

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    Books Fiction Reviews

    A timeless book that explores family dynamics

    TITLE: Whispers from Vera

    AUTHOR: Goretti Kyomuhendo

    PUBLISHER: Africa Writers Trust

    REVIEWER: Scholastica Moraa

    AVAILABILITY: Nuria and Cheche Bookstores

    Whispers from Vera is a well-crafted, breezy story, brilliantly told by Goretti Kyomuhendo. Told in your best friend, casual tone voice, the story tells the life of Vera, a 29-year-old woman trying to find love in Kampala.  The corporate type, Vera is intent on finding love and settling down. Meeting Eric seems like an answered prayer and she is ready to settle down and have a family.

    However, all is not as it seems and Eric is hiding a secret that may end up being their undoing. With her bubble of a perfect marriage burst, Vera struggles with coping with this new information, raising a family and trying to climb up the corporate ladder.

    The book explores the various challenges women go through in finding love, raising their families, and growing their careers. The book also explores family dynamics that are a huge part of our lives. Set in Uganda and with the enrichment of the local language, the book has this distinctive local feel. However, Goretti has also managed to give the book a modern and timeless feel that makes the book a classic. Set in the 2000s the book is significant now as it was then. Coupled with the high rise in the number of career women, you can say that the book is needed much more now.

    The book has also managed to cover the perspectives of different characters although Vera is the main character. Through Vera’s perspective, we also get a view of how other families live and cope with their dysfunctions. I would say that Whispers from Vera is that book that every woman needs to read.

    But I would be very wrong and biased. It is a book that everyone needs to read. Both men and women.

    The book’s greatest strength lies in the ease through which the author tells the story. The chapters are short and the flow from one chapter to the next is smooth and exciting. For avid readers, this will be a fast read. For people with reading stumps or those struggling to read, the book is perfect for them too.

    Additionally, the book can be found at the ekitabu audio app. Having read and also listened to it I can say that the reader did an excellent job in capturing the author’s voice. You can order the audio version of Whispers from Vera, here.

    From the local dialect in pronunciation of the local words to the flow of the story. You feel as if Vera herself is telling you her story. The audio is perfect for those long solo trips and in less than four hours you can actually finish the whole book.

    Happy reading.  I hope you enjoy this as much as I did.

    Moraa is a young woman navigating life. Author of Beautiful Mess… Co Author of Dreams and Demons and I’m Listening 2021 edition. She is also the winner of Kendeka Prize of African Literature-2022. She can be found with a book or two. When she’s not fighting to stay afloat, she is daydreaming, writing poetry or reading.

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    Books Fiction Issues Reviews

    A bloodless revolution is possible

    TITLE: Inheritance

    AUTHOR: Daid Mulwa

    PUBLISHER: Longhorn Publishers

    REVIEWER: Thomas King Oloo

    African countries have experienced a protracted period of foreign dominance even when it is evident that they can rely on themselves. Many a wise man has said that we were better off with colonisers controlling us than we are with self-rule.

    Nothing could be further from the truth.

    Inheritance is based in Kutula colony in its earliest years; particularly during the dying years of colonisation. King Kutula prides himself in the fact that Africa may be poor but it is a happy kingdom that knows nothing like suffering. Suffering, the king postulates; is a foreign idea that is finding relevance in Kutula. The text has a direct relevance with Kenya of the 1950s. The Kenya of Sir Evelyne Barring as Governor and the likes of Jomo Kenyatta, Oginga Odinga, Martin Shikuku et al, striving to gain control over the country.

    Drama begins to take shape when Lacuna Kasoo takes over as leader of the people. The colonisers settle on Lacuna after studying him and it is laughable how he is equated to Nero and Calligula all wrapped into one.

    Education has been weaponised to control the mind of the native. The native is to be lost in the libraries, buried deep trying to find knowledge that has evaded even the best minds. So is the western religion that bends the mind of the native to accommodate a lot of the atrocities perpetrated by the white men.

    The text harnesses creativity, tapping into the rich background of a people, so deeply moved by issues of leadership, to a point where any gathering must always be guided by conversations of leadership-good or bad. Lacuna Kasoo ascends the throne at a time his people crave for a leadership fashioned in the manner his father envisioned. However, he becomes the very serpent the people never imagined. Mulwa molds the image of an African Nero, the very choice of the White man; a leader so engrossed in amassing wealth so much so that he is lost in it the same way he is drunk with power.

    Lulu, Tamima’s daughter is at pain, she has to drop out of school since education has become so expensive in Kutula. Education ought to be what every learner gets in the most painless way yet here, it is a commodity far too expensive.

    Throughout the text, satire has taken center-stage in opening the window through which we see the institution of leadership, responsible adulthood, poverty, elections, corruption among many issues in the society.

    Bengo lives in constant fear, his brother has to constantly check if the leader’s men are following him. It becomes a great concern when one Robert Rollerstone expresses shock that the leader wants ammunition to maim and kill his people. The text examines premise for business with Africans, the imbalanced nature of the business environment and the sad reality that Africa has not a single thing to offer the rest of the world.

    The closing pages of the book give a beautiful summation that is to a greater extent a resolution for the problems that have gored the mind of the reader down the journey of Inheritance. It is the young, through Sangoi, that give the country a sensible solution. It is the academicians, in the person of Sangoi, that give the people hope. It is women, through the substantive example of Sangoi, that lead the people to a meaningful solution. The money advanced to the leaders and not used beyond the walls of the leaders’ palaces will be repaid by the leaders themselves. The writer lends Sangoi his opinion on the issues at hand causing her to make elaborate proposals on foreign debts among African countries, culture and even Neo-colonisation.

    Mulwa teaches us that we can have a revolution that is completely devoid of bloodshed. We can correct our mistakes as a people without feuding. It is through Sangoi’s call for peace that we read logic; the fact that it is a woman that gives it the weight that twenty first century ideologies ought to fashion themselves along.

    Thomas Babs Oloo is an instructor in literature in English working with young boys and girls.

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    Books Featured Non-Fiction Personalities Reviews

    Criminals eventually ‘see with their mouths’

    TITLE: My Life in Prison

    AUTHOR: John Kiriamiti

    PUBLISHER: East African Educational Publishers

    REVIEWER: Scholastica Moraa

    Following the sensation that was My Life in Crime, My Life in Prison tells the horror that was prison life for Jack Zollo, the writer of the two books.

    Fortunately, prison life is the kind of life most people will be fortunate enough not to experience. Through this book, we get a feel of how prison life is… or rather was during the time the author was imprisoned.

    Serving 20 years in jail with 48 strokes of the cane, Jack Zollo (Kiriamiti) lands in Kamiti Maximum Prison unceremoniously. He does not adapt well to prison life and it takes being beaten into unconsciousness and a friend simply referred to as GG to help him come to terms with his sentence. However, he does not settle into prison life without attempting an escape. 

    He is later transferred to Naivasha Maximum Prison, where he serves the rest of his prison term under inhumane conditions.

    It is difficult for someone who has never been in prison to grasp the concept of lack of freedom. Zollo’s time in prison is made worse by the conditions they are subjected to, which include the 1972 prison massacre.

    In a simple yet intriguing manner, John Kiriamiti tells his story leaving the reader enthralled from the beginning to the end. Throughout the book he shows us how crime can lead to unbearable punishments.

    Additionally, I love how most of the questions raised in his first book, My Life in Crime are answered. Kiriamiti’s first book left readers with plenty of questions and this book gives the reader closure. A painful, necessary, raw ending.

    My Life in Prison is a necessary book especially for young people who are tempted to use shortcuts to get rich quickly. As Jack Zollo says, when the law catches up with them, they will see with their mouth.

    Moraa is a young woman navigating life. Author of Beautiful Mess… Co Author of Dreams and Demons and I’m Listening 2021 edition. She is also the winner of Kendeka Prize of African Literature-2022. She can be found with a book or two. When she’s not fighting to stay afloat, she is daydreaming, writing poetry or reading.

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    Books Non-Fiction Personalities publishing Releases Reviews

    Rehema Kiteto’s journey of daring

    TITLE: Daring

    AUTHOR: Rehema Malemba Kiteto

    GENRE: Memoir

    PUBLISHER: The Writers Guild-Kenya

    REVIEWER: Kelvin Jaluo Shachile

    Coming of age novels must be among the best books we recommend to teenagers and young adults. My assumption for this has always been that coming of age novels are books and stories that allow these young people to look at their lives at the same time reflect on the stories and characters they read about. But then that is fiction, it might be a great reflection of their lives but there is a thin line between those stories and the realities they encounter in their lives.

    I have thought for days since I first read Rehema Kiteto’s new memoir titled “Daring” and I have settled to declare it a coming of age story in full realness.

    Kenyan author and administrator, Rehema Kiteto made news some years back after her appointment as the youngest administrator in the country at just the age of 24. Having known her for years since I worked with her on our first book “Hell in the Backyard and Other stories” published by Queenex Publishers in 2019, I celebrated this milestone for her.

    Days later, as news spread even wider and curiosity in the country spread in wonder of who this mysterious girl was, I started receiving calls and emails from people to get a comment about her. That scared not only me but others close to her.

    Some people had theories of how she might have got the job while others remained in awe of her life for they knew her somehow. Daring is a story the country has been waiting for. She writes about her life from childhood to the government administrator she is today. Personalised enough that we get to learn about her encounters with people, love, expectations, disappointments, her blossoming and becoming.

    She answers the questions the public had for her since her appointment while situating her story to remind us that it was not an accident she got here. It is actually something that was long overdue. With the right qualifications, experience and values, Rehema’s arrival into the public scene was not an overnight success, it is as she writes, a journey of daring.

    She however clarifies that what people said about her did not concern her and the misinterpretations are not something to address. She wrote Daring to dare others to journey on with strength and resilience.

    She writes that “My concern was for the young people who might read those online blogs, believe them and throw away their tools of hard work.”  Daring is not only a promising book for teenagers and young adults, it is great for general readership with a promise to resurrect hope in readers who might have in anyway been threatened by the quality of Kenyan self-published books in this recent while. The most exceptional coming of age memoir I have read so far.

    The 197 pages long memoir is among the best self-published books I have ever read from any Kenyan. The skillful craft and the way the publisher upheld the integrity and standards of the industry warmed my heart as a book lover. Launched on 25th May of 2024, this new book within a very short time has found itself in the hands of very many people and in places I had never seen memoirs being celebrated, even the Senate of Kenya. I dare say, a well-received memoir from a young person in Kenya threatening to become a national bestseller.

    Kelvin Shachile is a writer and curator. He co-authored Hell in the Backyard and other stories (Queenex Publishers, 2019). His writing has appeared in; The Armageddon and Other Stories anthology, A Country of Broken Boys anthology and The Best New African Poets 2018 anthology. Shachile has been featured and published by some of Africa’s finest literary platforms including Agbowo’, Writers Space Africa, Kalahari Review, Akewi’ and elsewhere. Long listed for African Writers Awards and Shortlisted for the Wakini Kuria Prize in 2019. He has worked for Lolwe and briefly for Agbowo’. He is well known for his pamphlet the Game of Writing published and distributed by African Writers Development Trust in 2019, which was reviewed as ‘a bible for new African writers.’ He currently serves on the editorial board of Fiery Scribe Review.

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    Books Culture Issues Non-Fiction Personalities Releases Reviews

    Long walk to citizenship: the Nubi story in Uganda

    TITLE: The Odyssey of the Nubi: From soldiers of the British Empire to Full Citizens in Uganda

    AUTHOR: Moses Ali

    PUBLISHER: Jescho Publishing House

    REVIEWER: Mbugua Ngunjiri

    AVAILABILITY: Nuria Bookstores

    Uganda, as a country, has had a chequered history marked by leadership struggles informed by much bloodletting. For Kenyans, the much they know about the journey of Uganda to what it is today, is limited to the personalities that have been occupied leadership positions and to an extent, the communities they came from.

    These individuals include, Edward Mutesa, Milton Obote, Idi Amin and current president Yoweri Museveni. While the communities where these leaders hail from are known, there is, however, one Ugandan community that has largely escaped the attention of Kenyans, probably due to the fact that none of them has ever scaled to top leadership position in that country.

    The Nubi community has however played a larger-than-life role in the history of Uganda, even preceding the advent of colonialism. For the right or wrong reasons, the Nubi community in Uganda have featured centrally in shaping the history of the East African Nation.

    The history of the Nubi in Uganda is as colourful and as chequered as that of the country. Above all else, theirs has been a story full of trials, tribulation and betrayal. It is not until Museveni came into power through a protracted bush war, that the Nubi found peace and recognition.

    Moses Ali, a retired general in the Ugandan army, has put together a book that traces the roots of the Nubi, from Sudan, during the pre-colonial times, their role in midwifing the both the colonial and post-colonial Uganda sates, to the present.

    The Odyssey of the Nubi: From soldiers of the British Empire to Full Citizens in Uganda, is a recommended read for anyone keen on knowing the other side of the Uganda away from the mutesas, obotes, Amins and Musevenis.

    General Ali’s book gives a different – one might argue, refreshing – perspective of Uganda. When Nigerian novelist Chinua Achebe famously said that ‘until the lion learns how to write, every story will glorify the hunter’, he must have had the unsung contribution of the Nubi in the making of Uganda, in mind.

    One story that has been told over and over again is the contribution of Rwandan refugees, who joined Museveni in liberating Uganda from the chokehold of Obote II and Tito Okello and their murderous band of soldiers. The story of the Rwandan refugees would have remained in the footnotes of history, had those soldiers not fought their way into power in Rwanda.

    The story of the Rwandan refugees, mainly Tutsis, led by Paul Kagame, would not be as celebrated as it is today, had they not brought down the genocidal regime of Juvenal Habyarimana. Similarly, the story of the Nubi’s contribution to Museveni’s liberation of Uganda, would not be known had Gen Ali elected not to write this book.

    It is therefore safe to say that the Nubi, through Gen Ali, are the proverbial lions that learnt to write and therefore managed to celebrate their contribution in shaping modern Uganda into what it is today.

    When Obote, propped up by Tanzania’s president, the late Mwalimu Julius Nyerere, came back for a second stint as Ugandan president, he embarked on a negative campaign that sought to exterminate the Nubi, whose soldiers he blamed for backing up Idi Amin, when he ousted him (Obote) in a military coup in 1972.

    Many Nubi’s lost their lives, while others fled to exile, in the hands of Obote’s troops, after he came back to power, via an election in 1980, which Gen Ali dismisses as a sham in his book. The author, who at one time was a finance minister in Amin’s regime, fled into exile in Sudan when Obote came back to power.

    He writes that Amin sacked him and had sent assassins to finish him off

    When Obote took his revenge campaign to West Nile, the homeland of the Nubi in Uganda, Gen Ali and others, who had served in Amin’s army, decided to push back when they formed UNRF (Uganda National Rescue Front), thereby creating a safe haven for their kinsmen in the region.

    Museveni was at the same time, also waging war against Obote. Much later, Museveni and his National Resistance Army formed a pact with UNRF, which ushered them into power. The book explains that the Nubi in UNRF, courtesy of having career soldiers within its ranks, had the potential to capture state power in Uganda, only that it was hindered by internal wrangles.

    General Ali currently occupies the office of second deputy prime minister as well as deputy leader of government in Uganda.

    As book’s title suggests, the Nubi have struggled with the issue of citizenship in subsequent Ugandan governments. They finally achieved their citizenship dream with the enactment of the 1995 constitution.

    When the book was launched in Kenya on Friday May 11, the Alliance Française library was filled with members of the Nubi community based in Kenya. The deliberations, inevitably, touched on the citizen status of the Nubi in Kenya.

    Like their Ugandan counterparts, the Nubi of Kenya arrived as soldiers with the British imperialists, helping them establish the Kenyan colony. As a way of appreciation, the colonialists allocated the Nubi about 4,000 acres in present day Kibra. Out of the original 4,000 acres, the Kenyan government gave them title deed to 288 acres only, following years of agitation.

    The Nubi of Kenya have made a petition to President William Ruto, who promised to look into the issue of getting them recognised as an ethnic community in Kenya. They are now awaiting a positive presidential announcement on December 12, during Jamhuri Day celebrations.