The Late Adhiambo's Bamboo Dream

The Late Adhiambo's Bamboo Dream
                                               by Nyagaka H  Nyakundi

The news about Claire Adhiambo's mysterious demise struck me-and indeed all of us present at the hospital that afternoon to visit  her  -as painfully as a hornet's sting.

It was January 24,2011,a busy day for us at Bamboo Media Group(BMG) in whose formation  Ms Adhiambo had played a crucial part.This was going to be a busier day with so much to discuss about underway shoots.But with the news that our colleague had not responded to medication yet,we collectively resolved to shelf our plans to visit her.

At about noon Edwin Tiego,Ronald Nyakweba ,Maryanne  Ochieng' and myself left for the Kenyatta National Hospital(KNH) where Ms Adhiambo had been  hospitalized  for a while.And as fate would have it,we were the first group of visitors to receive the sad news:she had passed on three hours before our arrival.The announcement,made by a very  unruffled doctor,struck us hard.All of us were visibly shaken,dazed,bewildered.A young lady  who had not  joined us in the briefing  room broke down as soon as she learnt the sad news through us outside .

I first met the late Adhiambo in 2009,shortly after my fortunate admission into the Kenya Polytechnic University College to pursue my journalism dream.And as if that was what fate had ordained,I was organized into the same classroom with her.However,our friendship did not spark immediately.Given my raising at the heart of a hamlet in the outskirts of a rural town,I was quick to dismiss her as one of those flashy,snobbish girls Nairobi harbored.Consequently,I eschewed her ,kept her at arms length,and never venturedbeyond her always warm greetings .

However,a few months  into the course,I was struck by her humility and amity.She raised smiles wherever she went,her very presence in our classroom causing a sort of ambience that-if nobody else did-I at least felt.Adhiambo was inquisitive,talkative and at all whimsical.Adhiambo lived her life with unparalleled passion,which suddenly started to seep away,or so I saw,  after 2010.

But to return to the robust Adhiambo with whom I fell into great friendship,this is why am going to miss her.Sometime in June last year,shortly after we completed our journalism course,she was in the number of tens of enthusiastic former students of the Kenya Polytechnic University College class of 2009/2011,eager  to form an entrepreneurship outfit which we afterward named Bamboo Media Group (BMG).Now I was not present  physically on that day to know who suggested we use "Bamboo".But from my close and yet discreet association with Ms Adhiambo ,I had  come to note her love of the bamboo tree.She loved yellow and green.And she often dressed in yellow and  green clothes.She once had a yellow phone and studs.To her the  bamboo tree and its colors was a symbol of resilience and hope.

For those of us who were fortunate to be in contact with her , especially at BMG we mourn this  unbearable loss of an  untimely death. But at a personal level,I will forever miss her easy laughs,witty humor and adorable humility.Rest in Peace,Unforgettable ,madam.

Bamboo Media Group(BMG) Six Months on

 by Nyagaka Nyakundi Hesborn
They came in droves to that meeting that incidentally set the stage for  a momentous and equally challenging time for an infant corporate named Bamboo Media Group(BMG).I had personally planned to attend that first meeting,but with  Stacey  effecting her plans to move to a new house I felt obligated to give a hand,missing out  what I  had expected to be an impressive meeting turn-out  out of  the curiosity  of those who would attend.

Drawn mainly from our 2011 journalism class at the Kenya Polytechnic University College,this  was a meeting that Henry Onyango ,now of The Truth Weekly, later described  to me by phone
as  mamoth.Offhead,Henry counted Edwin Tiego,Onesmus Mulinge,Maryann Ochieng',Ronald Nyakweba,Peter Mungoma,Miriam Njeri,Claire Adhiambo as present, in and endless list that only ended with the beep in my phones earpiece,a sign my airtime had come up.

It was an informal launch meeting at Uhuru  Park,and so leaders had to be picked by vote.In the ad hoc plebiscite ,Edwin Tiego was elected  chairman,much as I had  hoped,Peter Mutachi   as vice chairman although he later resigned unceremoniously at an ABC Cafe meeting citing no reasons for the action.There was also Ronald Nyakweba,Maryann Ochieng',Hellen Scandy,Claire Adhiambo and myself on the list of officials.

But to return to  Peter Mutachi's perhaps eccentric resignation.Weeks following his action our challenges intensified.Many defected from the group ,leaving a handful of us holding on to what appeared to be nothing,groping in endless darkness.More defections. So that it now came to only officials attending our fortnightly meetings.During our last meeting held in November,there was only three or four from the officials number attending.We had been toying with the idea of doing away with meetings and set about working from our homes.It was at this trying moment that an idea struck us:Drama Programme!
At that meeting I have alluded to,our script writer Ronald Nyakweba arrived  clutching scripts he had done.We agreec something had to get going!

To make the  long story trim,we closed the year last week  with auditions for two tv Programmes:Machungu and Tears of Love 
The next year -next month in fact-we hope to produce these series .
However,we desperately need funds  to facilitate our  activities.We still believe we will make it!For those of us in BMG,2012 is going to be the year of sacrifice.See our group on facebook for details

Merry Christmas and Happy 2012!

Why acute joblessness in Kenya is fresh fodder for media scammers

Just a year after he opened  an e-mail account ,James Mutua has  closed the account  cursing  those who advised him to be connected online.A month ago he received a message from a lady who identified herself as just "Blessing".In the e-mail  Blessing was asking  James to assist her  deposit some millions of dollars 'because Blessing wanted someone to transfer the money owing to the political climate in her country" and then flee to Kenya  and get married.

This was a secret  James would closely guard until recently when he heard from a friend that a person with a similar name  had contacted him and he was actually opening an account-on Blessing's advise-  to kick-start the  process.Although James was now becoming suspicious,he never opened up to the friend.He only saw a 'competitor' in him and promised himself to outdo him by talking to Blessing gently.

But all this changed when the two James Google-searched  "Blessing" only to find the name and the photo she was purporting to be hers listed among the world's deadly online scammers. It was at this point that he talked to his friend about it ,cutting short their journey to regrets.

With the advent of the internet several years ago the number of people  using it has risen from a few thousands to millions.But this is a double-edged sword.whereas the internet is a useful too,it has an ugly flip side. Scammers are now online promising  people jobs and other transactions  to make them rich.This has been compounded  by joblessness making job-seekers easy prey to this criminals.

But in the face of all this,one tip will help you:Never trust any one you don't know in person  online.For he/she might be using a  criminal pseudonym to con you.

Heroine who won Battles for Nature Succumbs to Cancer at 71

The death of prof. Wangari Maathai on Monday at Nairobi Hospital-Kenya,  brought  an end to the life    of  a symbolic figure and role model  for many  whose very portrait  told  volumes  about her love of nature and the environment.

Wangari was an icon in  her  homeland, Kenya, what with her gallant campaigns and confrontations against   those whose activities threatened  the environment.This passion led to her recognition  in 2004 with the prestigious Nobel prize,becoming the first African woman to become a Nobel laureate.


Educated in the USA and Germany Prof.Maathai had until her death become synonymous with nature and rights through her activities through The Green Belt Movement which she founded in the 70's.

At the news about her death a barrage of statements have  been issued describing Maathai as an outstanding woman whose activities can be nothing but heroic,including that of president Barrack Obama

Where is the Media's Mandela?

The world today celebrated the birthday of the world's greatest statesman alive:Nelson Madiba Mandela.This is a man who clearly broke ranks with most of his contemporaries and   to set an example of what a true statesman should be.

For starters Mandela was incarcerated for 27 years at the notorious Robben Island prison   for agitating against the racially discriminative Apartheid.A lawyer by profession ,Mandela  was deeply concerned by the plight of his people and mounted a struggle that finally  laid the foundation of  South Africa as the world knows it today .

Coincidentally,Madiba's birthday  celebration comes at a time when  the world is deep in  a controversial  discussion regarding a  media malpractice that might lay the ground  to  several  criminal prosecutions involving  journalists ,politicians the police  and even politicians and celebrities.The News Of  the World has been accused of hacking into a victim's  phone for information in  a saga that has seen a publication's folding  and a series of resignations .

But here's a quote  fom Madiba that should give us  how we should approach the media particularly in Africa"

“I have fought against white dominance and I have fought against BLACK dominance. I have kept by my ideal of a democratic and free community where everyone can live together in harmony and with the same possibilities. ”

The ideal society should be devoid of media dorminance and government dorminance.

The Great African Literary Controversy

Ngugi wa Thiong'o has been at the center of literary controversy

A few years into his career,novelist James Ngugi shocked the literary world when he stopped writing in English  to write in his Kikuyu Vernacular.He was later to follow this radical shift with changing his name to Ngugi wa Thiong'o ,scrapping the English part of his African identity.

In many of his books that followed Ngugi fought injustices and pointed out mistakes  in  his mother-tongue ,plunging into what appears to be an  endless  controversy .He has also in his  career written numerous articles and essays  advocating for what he calls "freeing culture from Ethnocentrism" .

According to Ngugi,who recently published an installment of his lengthy childhood memoir,Dreams in a Time of War,,language and culture are part of the struggles aimed at moving the center from Europe ,and decolonizing  of the minds of the people.

"The tradition of Africans writing  in European language particularly those of the former  colonizers is clearly a product of of the fatal encounter between Africa and Europe ,"argues Ngugi in  his collection  of essays  entitled Moving the Center

In the book  Ngugi discusses in detail  the motivation behind his ardent advocacy  on language suggesting that language is entrenched in   a peoples culture.


The globally renowned scholar's pressing for  use  of people's own languages in  literature   has over time drawn criticism with some literary analysts and fellow scholars  on record saying 'Ngugi is fighting a losing battle".

Ngugi  adds that   literature in African languages suffers from a lack of strong tradition.

"Everyone  in the world has a language,either the language of his  or her parents or one adopted at birth at a later  stage in life,"writes Ngugi.He continues:"So when  we consider  English  as  a language  for the world,we are all drawing  from the languages and cultures in which we are rooted."

Ngugi's position on the matter of language has attracted interesting criticisms among them respected  Nigerian novelist Chinua Achebe,and the two have had a long fight over the language in which African literature should be written.

In 1990   Achebe lashed at Ngugi  in an essay ,saying 'English is the most viable language  to represent African hopes and fears in literature.The essay ,republished in Achebe's latest book,The Education of a British-Protected Child, serves to re-affirm Achebe's unwavering stance .

As Ngugi describes Achebe's argument as 'fatalistic logic'  in Decolonizing the Mind,Achebe ,in 2009,described  Ngugi's argument as  comprising of 'fatal snags of the single-minded"


While Ngugi adfvocates for local languages only,Achebe supports  the use of English  and local languages as well.
 "The difference between  Ngugi  and myself on the issue of indigenous or European  languages is that while  Ngugi now believes it is either/or,I have always thought it was both,"Achebe said.

As the debate continues to rage,perhaps another notable difference  the two could be that while  Ngugi seems  angry and serious  in his essays,Achebe adopts irony and humor coupled with sayings and proverbs to drive his message home.

Also,Achebe's Politics and  Politicians of Language  could be a mischivous rejoinder to Ngugi's The Politics Of Language in African Literature ,a subtitle in Decolonising the Mind.

Hero Who Reclaimed Africa's Literary Desert

When Chinua  Achebe published his first novel,it suddenly occurred to the world that Africa could express herself through literature ,and in her own voice and terms.

An enduring masterpiece,Things Fall Apart ,published in 1958,received and continues to receive global acclaim


Chinua Achebe has confessed that his greatest motivation to become a writer was  the indignation he felt at  the skewed depictions of Africa by some English writers such as Joseph Conrad and Karen Blixen.


"The story of my people was not going to be like one of those written  by adventurous Europeans in which the white man was always the winner" Achebe said of  Things Fall Apart.

Before 1958 ,among others ,Joseph Conrad and Karebn Blixen  had painted Africa as  utterly exotic in what has come to be seen as  a deliberate attempt to attract European tourists and settlers to the continent,and raise financial prospects in return.

But Things Fall Apart ,which has since sold over  nine million copies worldwide  adequately told off Conrad's The Heart Of Darkness, and Blixen's Out Of Africa.

In their books both Conrad and Blixen  draw Africa as a continent without order with Blixen at one point likening her cook to her dog.

Educated in Nigeria and Britain,,Achebe read Conrad's The Heart Of Darkness for his degree,and was henceforth determined to counter the falsehoods .He would later--in an article --accuse Joseph Conrad of racism.
"The novelist  is a teacher  who needs to re-educate   people"Achebe said  in an article.

Born in 1930 among the Ibo People ,Achebe ,who also writes poetry,is probably Africa's most read and discussed writer.

During the Biafran War  that broke  out in 1966 with the abortive attempt to establish  an independent Republic of Biafra by Eastern  Ibos,Achebe put paid to  to the writing of his  sixth book,The Anthills Of  the Savanna to  publicize  his people's tribulations through poetry.His efforts culminated in  Beware Soul Brother ,a collection of poems  on the Ibo experience  in the three-year war.


The book apeared in the United States  of America as Chrismas in Biafra and Other Poems..When he published   A Man Of the People in 1966,he  was forced to flee to exile  as the novel  implicated him in a coup it preceded due to its prophetic ending.

Achebe escaped arrest narrowly and fled to The United States Of America

While in America ,he became editor of Okike,an influential  African literary magazine .He also became professor of English at Massachusetts at Amherst .

Achebe's other books include:Arrow Of God (Which he says is the novel he is most likely to be caught sitting to read again),and Chike  and The River ,which Achebe describes as 'a novel for boys'.

In 2001,Achebe published Home and Exile ,and most recently in 2010 ,The Education of a British-protected Child,in which he tells his own story growing under colonialism .

On his return to Nigeria in from exile in 1976,Achebe became professor of English at the university of Nigeria .And in 1990,he was involved in a fatal road accident  that would see him on a wheelchair for the rest of his life.

But although the tragic  accident  rendered his legs useless,Achebe continues to shake the literary world ,churning out ideas on social life politics and language.He has received dozens of accolades in international circles.

For this man ,it can be said,the center continues to hold.