Posted
Friday, September 20
2013 at
09:46
In Summary
Abdalla was jailed when he was only 22 for writing a Swahili pamphlet that asked, “Where is Kenya heading to?”
On Monday this week, I spent over 60 minutes
with Kenyan writer, Swahili promoter and lecturer, now retired;
grandfather of twelve grand-children, Mr Abdilatif Abdalla (pictured).
We walked along Camden Town in northern- west London, had tea; and
hardly a moment passed without laughter. Abdalla is one of those gifted
humans that find fun and amusement and meaning in very simple things.
At 67, his mind is still sharp and his senses
possess charisma which the Oxford English dictionary defines as:
magnetism, appeal, allure, presence, strength of character. A hundred
years ago, famous American novelist, Jack London wrote: “The proper
function of man is to live, not to exist.”
During my life I have met or interviewed many
interesting people: in fact, I believe every human being is unique or
has something relevant to offer. Like Lao Tzu, Chinese philosopher,
declared many centuries back: “Other people are bright.”
Those I have shook hands with include musicians
James Brown (US), Miriam Makeba (South Africa), Fela Kuti (Nigeria),
Remmy Ongala (Congo/Tanzania), Kenya’s Fadhil William (credited for
composing the famous tune, Malaika), Francis Bebey (Cameroon), the two
superstar Brazilian musicians, Gilberto Gil and Caetano Veloso. I have
chatted to presidents – Mwalimu Nyerere, Robert Mugabe and Jakaya
Kikwete; Jamaican poets Mutabaruka and Linton Kwesi Johnson; Kenya’s
eminent author, Ngugi wa Thiong’o, Zanzibar’s Swahili novelist Adam
Shafi and now, Abdilatif Abdalla from Mombasa.
Whether you are fond of their values and ideas or
not, they all possess one thing in common: charisma. It underlies deep
intelligence; a sense of purpose, a mission to enrich humanity.
In 2009, Kenya’s prolific scholar and writer, Prof
Ken Walibora, hailed Mr Abdalla as “one of the most talented 20th
century poets.”
Abdalla was sent to jail when he was only 22 years
old for writing a Swahili pamphlet that asked “Where is Kenya heading
to?” Having spread the material in several cities in 1968, the then
young rebel was imprisoned for three years accused of sedition in the
era of Jomo Kenyatta. While incarcerated he managed to scribble poems
in toilet paper and in 1973 the collection Sauti ya Dhiki (Voice of Agony) was published by Oxford University Press.
The following year Sauti ya Dhiki,
ironically, won the Jomo Kenyatta Prize for Literature. Although Mr
Abdalla has written numerous articles, another collection (Utenzi wa Adam na Hawa, 1971) and edited poems from last century (Kale ya Washairi wa Pemba by Mkuki Na Nyota), Sauti ya Dhiki is his most known book.
Exiled in Tanzania from 1972 to 1979, he worked in
the Swahili Department of the University of Dar es Salaam, then BBC
Swahili (1979-1985) and thereafter teaching Swahili in London and
Leipzig until retirement.
Why so few books, I wondered.
Abdilatif: “It is better to write little and be read rather than a lot and not be read.”
Over several decades I have enjoyed Sauti ya Dhiki.
The thirty plus poems reflect on love, life and society; generally
weaving and embellishing the Kiswahili language in a variety of
dialogues, lullabies and rich prose. Genuine, classic.
Dhiki’s significant aspect is it’s dialect as Mr
Abdalla speaks Kimvita one of several Swahili types. Others include
Kingazija (Comoro Islands), Kingwana (Congo), Kimrima (Dar es Salaam),
Kilamu (Mombasa), Kibajuni (South Somalia), etc. Sauti ya Dhiki
is considered to have contributed to the many facets of the Swahili
language and growth. No wonder a quote on its first page is from the
iconic Swahili writer Muyaka bin Haji, who died in 1840.
In his preface to the collection in May 1973, the
late respected scholar Shihabuddin Chiraghdin eulogised: “All his poems
do not have any traces of foreign elements; his thoughts are rooted in
Swahili and African roots.”
The book has been reissued by the same Oxford University Press.
For those who don’t read Swahili poetry or speak
Swahili, Abdalla could just be a statistic in East African literature.
But you may have used modern Kiswahili dictionaries.
Abdilatif has in the past been strongly involved in the development of Kiswahili dictionaries. You have certainly heard of individuals who work hard to preserve nuances, nerves and character of our speech, be it French, Lingala, Sandawi, Wolof, Hindi, German, Zulu, Mandarin. Abdilatif Abdullah is talented for speaking fluent Kiswahili in such a beautiful way that last year, students at the University of Dar es Salaam marvelled at how he could deliver a lecture and speak for hours without throwing one single English word in his Swahili delivery like some of our leaders and elite tend to do these days. Suffice it to say those who continue to highlight so called “Swahinglish” forget that they are developing neither Swahili nor English. The standard of both languages continues to drop because of this mish-mash. They need to heed, learn, read and listen to our living elders, like Abdalla.
SOURCE: THE CITIZEN
Abdilatif has in the past been strongly involved in the development of Kiswahili dictionaries. You have certainly heard of individuals who work hard to preserve nuances, nerves and character of our speech, be it French, Lingala, Sandawi, Wolof, Hindi, German, Zulu, Mandarin. Abdilatif Abdullah is talented for speaking fluent Kiswahili in such a beautiful way that last year, students at the University of Dar es Salaam marvelled at how he could deliver a lecture and speak for hours without throwing one single English word in his Swahili delivery like some of our leaders and elite tend to do these days. Suffice it to say those who continue to highlight so called “Swahinglish” forget that they are developing neither Swahili nor English. The standard of both languages continues to drop because of this mish-mash. They need to heed, learn, read and listen to our living elders, like Abdalla.
SOURCE: THE CITIZEN
