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Kidagaa Kimemwozea As a Representation of the Kenyan Socio-Political Environment

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Kidagaa Kimemwozea As a Representation of the Kenyan Socio-Political Environment AN ECHO TO A PEOPLE'S CULTURE: KEN WALIBORA'S KIDAGAA KIMEMWOZEA AS A REPRESENTATION OF THE KENYAN SOCIO-POLITICAL ENVIRONMENT Martin Kimathi Muthee A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate College of Bowling Green State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS August 2017 Committee: Jeremy Wallach, Advisor Esther Clinton Kristen Rudisill © 2017 Martin Muthee All Rights Reserved iii ABSTRACT Jeremy Wallach, Advisor Kenya boasts of its high production of popular culture materials. Music, TV shows, movies, popular fiction and now, in this social media age, memes, GIFs and short video clips. All these are tailored to respond to the prevailing social, economic and political conditions in the country. While they are mostly humorous and entertaining, the primary goal of many of these popular culture artefacts is to critique contemporary Kenya. Despite its consumption though, popular culture has remained highly undervalued and unappreciated as a tool for cultural, social and political transformation. Many Kenyans consume popular culture texts solely for entertainment purposes. Popular fiction, since it is studied and examined in Kenya’s exam-oriented schools, is arguably the only form of popular culture that is seen as a means to an end – passing one’s exams. This end however, is hardly what authors usually have in mind when they produce the texts, considering their contents. This thesis examines Kidagaa Kimemwozea, a Swahili novel by Ken Walibora, as a representation and critique of postcolonial Kenya’s social, cultural and political situation. Exploring the political leadership of postcolonial Kenya, class dynamics and relations as well as gender issues, I argue that Walibora’s novel does not only expose the Kenyan bourgeoisie’s cunningness in their oppression of the proletarians and the male ruse to dominate their female counterparts, but it also proposes excellent paths of emancipation for the proletarians and women, and should thus be given scholarly attention. iv To my Mum, Dad, and Dr. Esther Clinton. v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS As I grew up in Kenya, I witnessed the government providing relief food to poor drought stricken citizens during the dry seasons and coming to the aid of others whose homes and property were submerged in floods during the rainy ones. Year after year, “Serikali, saidia” (“Government, please help”) became the mantra for poor Kenyans who seemingly depended on the all-powerful government to solve their problems. One question lingered in my mind throughout – Why couldn’t the government, with all its machinery, provide a permanent solution to the citizens so they could live comfortable, more fulfilled lives? This question remained unanswered until I came to the Department of Popular Culture at Bowling Green State University. Through the profound scholarship offered in the department, I have come to learn about the complex class relationships that inform canny practices by the bourgeoisie, disguised as kind gestures to keep the proletarians dependent on them, oppressed and under their control. This knowledge is what informed this study. Therefore, I would like to register my sincere gratitude to the Department of Popular Culture for the perceptive scholarship it has provided me and does for many other students. I am immensely grateful to Dr. Esther Clinton for working day and night to refine my writing and analytical skills as well as Dr. Jeremy Wallach and Dr. Kristen Rudisill, for their continued mentorship, guidance, encouragement and immense support throughout my MA scholarship and for supporting and guiding me as I wrote my thesis. Their enlightening comments on my work, as well as the courses they taught in the department, were greatly instrumental in helping put my ideas together. Moreover, I thank my family, through whose constant encouragement I was able to overcome emotional obstacles. I thank my father Stanley Muthee and my mother Mary Muthee, for their endless prayers and inspiration and for constantly encouraging me to get education, the vi access of which was limited to them, and for always supporting me morally and materially to achieve my dreams. I thank my sister Pauline Nkirote and her husband, Festus Mule, as well as my two brothers, Joshua Muchui and Nicholas Mugambi, for trusting in me, supporting my decisions and praying for me to achieve them. I am also grateful to my cousin, Bassanio Mwenda, for his encouragement of me ever since I joined high school and his prayers throughout, especially during the time I was writing my thesis. I also heartily thank Steve, Carol, David and Margaret, my American family, for walking with me throughout my time at Bowling Green, their tremendous support and concern in my graduate studies and for hosting me during the last days of my time at BGSU when my lease expired before I was done with this thesis. Finally, words are not enough to express my gratitude to my wife, Serah Wanjiru Kimathi, for her unconditional love, help, and support during not only my thesis writing process but also the two years of my MA studies as well as during my undergraduate studies and the transition period in between. I appreciate her patience, kindness and encouragement through all the challenges I experienced, despite being herself a graduate student with her fair share of hardships. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………………………..... 1 The Author: Ken Waliaula Walibora ......................................................................... 8 The Text: Kidagaa Kimemwozea .............................................................................. 9 Research Justification ................................................................................................ 12 Literature Review....................................................................................................... 15 CHAPTER I: IS IT YET UHURU? ....................................................................................... 18 Introduction ................................................................................................................ 18 The Use of RSAs ....................................................................................................... 22 Bribery and Corruption .................................................................................. 22 Use of Courts ................................................................................................. 30 Nepotism ........................................................................................................ 31 Oligarchy........................................................................................................ 35 Dictatorship .................................................................................................... 37 The Use of ISAs ......................................................................................................... 42 .Strata According to Political Ranking ........................................................... 42 Political Hypocrisy/Sycophancy .................................................................... 43 Language Use................................................................................................. 44 Conclusion ................................................................................................................. 47 CHAPTER II: THE WANJIKU VERSUS THE BOURGEOISIE ........................................ 49 Introduction ................................................................................................................ 49 Poverty and Wealth .................................................................................................... 50 Social Stratification .................................................................................................... 54 viii Language Part I: Sheng’............................................................................................. 56 Language Part II: General Language Use .................................................................. 59 Traditional Medicine .................................................................................................. 60 Conclusion ................................................................................................................. 61 CHAPTER III: DOES HER SUCCESS THREATEN HIS? ................................................. 63 Introduction ................................................................................................................ 63 Strength of a Woman ................................................................................................. 65 Women as a Subaltern Category ................................................................................ 74 Conclusion ................................................................................................................. 82 CONCLUSION ...................................................................................................................... 84 REFERENCES ...................................................................................................................... 89 1 INTRODUCTION Despite the production of numerous popular culture texts in their various forms (movies, TV shows, books, songs, etc.) in Kenya, there has not been enough analysis of these texts in terms of what they mean to Kenyan society. Such analyses would go a long way in helping audiences to better understand their society and deal with the critique presented by
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