Like Shakespeare Literary Giant Ken Walibora still Lives: A Personal Reflection

On 15th April 2020, I just started off my day like any other ordinary day, deeply immersed in my daily activities. As always, my phone was tucked away as I always consider it a distraction to my work.

During the afternoon, I took a small break and the best I would do was to check out some updates on Twitter.  Now, I’m one of those people on Twitter who usually watch from a distance, so  I just scrolled through what was trending taking few seconds to read tweets here and there that I considered ‘interesting’ and scrolling very first If I read something that does not make sense.

As I scrolled through something caught my eye, ‘Ken Walibora’s’ name. A tweep had tweeted asking why the media was adamant about Walibora’s death. I narrowed my eyes and moved closer to confirm what I had just read. I looked at the bio of the tweep and may be assumed that this person did not really know who Walibora was, so I just continued scrolling. His name came up again. At this point I knew something was amiss.

I immediately checked Walibora’s account on Twitter. On his last Tweet, I realized he was engaging some of his followers informing them of the correct translation of ‘curfew’ to ‘kafyuu’ in Kiswahili. He had also shared the hilarious video of comedian Flaqo.

In my quest to know the truth, I opened Google and typed in ‘Ken Walibora’. Something bad again happened. Google’s autosuggestion feature showed ‘Ken Walibora Death’. Well, I ignored it and insisted on searching ‘Ken Walbora’. As I searched, I always fervently prayed that everything I had seen was a lie. Walibora is not dead. He was a good person, the best Kiswahili author, and a humble man- so he cannot die! Google proved me otherwise. My heart sunk as I saw all the search results. Prof. Ken Walibora was no more!

Meeting Walibora

Like many people of my age, I came to know Walibora through his books. One of his books, Kidagaa Kimemwozea was part of our curriculum in high school. After reading his book in my first year in high school, I got so interested in his works. I read his other books, Kufa Kuzikana, Siku Njema, Sina Zaidi and Damu Nyeusi na Hadithi Zingine. His ability to connect with the reader through his books is something I admired. I always yearned to meet him one day.

Now I don’t want to say that I have personally known Walibora for 20 years and I have always been in contact with him. That would be far from the truth. The first time I met Prof. Ken Walibora in person was during the annual Tamasha la Kiswahili Festival. He was one of the guest speakers at the event and I had gone to meet this ‘great author’ that I had always been looking forward to meeting.

I met him after the event and the small interaction that we had changed my outlook of life. And if you ask anyone who has met Prof. Ken Walibora, they will always tell you that he’s one of the humblest people. When he came into the event, he stealthily walked in and joined a group of schoolgirls who had attended the event. When the MC called in the guest speaker, we all looked at the back hoping to see him walk in.  

Suddenly, dressed in a neat white striped necktie and a pair of glasses, he walked forward from among the group of the schoolgirls amid applause from the audience. He thanked the audience and gave a speech that I always recall. In his speech, he emphasized the need for young people to always read and the need for people to uphold the Kiswahili language. He always maintained his smile throughout the speech and challenged our thoughts.

After the speech, I had an opportunity to talk to him. He always paid attention to what one would say regardless of your status. He keenly listened as I introduced myself and informed him how I liked his works. At the end of the conversation, he gave me his email so that we would keep in touch. When we met outside, I realized he remembered my name and even my institution.

Humility

In most of his interviews, his humble character is always evident. In an interview with MeharaLit Walibora posited that he was not a perfect writer and sometimes he needs advice. He also encouraged writers to always write the language of their hearts.

“My advice is hardly that of a sage. Perhaps, I am in need of advice myself. But to anyone aspiring to write, I would say write in the language of your heart, the language that flows freely for you. Is it one of the so-called African indigenous languages or one that crossed oceans to reach you? It doesn’t matter. Just remember that literature is the art of language and you should choose the language you have mastered the most for your art to be appealing.”

Prof. Ken Walibora’s love for the Swahili language was unmatched. In most of his speeches and articles, he always encouraged the audience to embrace the use of Kiswahili language. Allow me to quote one of his articles that he wrote on Swahilihub on 27th October 2016.

“Jamani kwa nini Kiswahili safi cha Wakenya chamalizikia darasani? Yaani kwa nini mwanafunzi anapohitimu shule ya msingi na sekondari au chuoni, anasahau kila kitu kilicho sahihi, sanifu na rasmi alichofundishwa?”

Hardwork and Patience

Apart from his love for Kiswahili, Prof Ken Walibora taught us the importance of hard work, doing your best, and always focusing on your future. Some of his books took the longest time to get published. His much-acclaimed book, Siku Njema took 10 years before it would get published. As he noted in his Daily Nation article written in 2013, the main reason was that he was an ‘unknown writer’.

To those aspiring in life, Prof Ken Walibora encouraged them to work hard and never settle for anything less than what they deserve.

“Hard work and never accepting to settle for anything but the best. I write every book as if it is my first and last one as if my life depends on it. I often strive to write stories that have no sell-by date, stories that I would find riveting myself, long after I have written them. Yet, I don’t write with a view to winning prizes or my books being taught in schools.” Walibora told MeharaLit in an interview in 2018.

On 23rd Wednesday, April 2020, as I  watched the pallbearers laying down the coffin of Prof Ken Walibora, I knew that Walibora was gone but he will forever remain with us through his books. Just like Shakespeare, Prof Ken Waliaula Walibora still lives with us.