His latest book, Different Colours, and which I think is his most ambitious so far, has taken the game a notch higher. Not only has he written on his pet subject, he has fused it with the sublime world of Art.
Different Colours revolves around an imaginary waterfall in an equally imaginary Banana County, which is threatened by an unscrupulous merchant who starts to mine building stones from around the waterfall. The hero of the book is Miguel, a dreadlocked artist – don’t they all sport dreadlocks? – who, after hearing of the beauty of the waterfall decides that he must immortalise it on canvas.
It is while on one of his surveying missions that he accidentally bumps into a group of men hard at work in a secret quarry. The story unfolds after the owner of the secret quarry is alerted of Miguel’s nosiness.
Not that Dik Teita (note the play on the word dictator) hadn’t had his fears as to the ‘real’ intentions of the newly arrived ‘rastaman’. The moment he got wind of Miguel’s mission of painting the waterfall – word travels fast in Banana – he feared it was a matter of time before his secret quarry was discovered.
To prevent this, Dik Teita comes up with what he thinks is a convenient smokescreen; make Miguel paint the local cattle dip – who, in their right minds assigns such jobs?
Seeing as the cattle dip ruse didn’t work, Dik Teita resorts to intimidation and threats of violence. And who better does this dirty work than Vu Tabangi (bhang smoker) the village thug. Sadly for Dik Teita, the threats have the opposite effect on Miguel: his resolve to save the waterfall from destruction hardens. Together with Angela, a widow who also happens to be his landlady, they mobilise the local community on the importance of conserving the waterfall, which is their lifeline. They also enlist the services of Derek, Miguel’s friend, who is also a tech geek. Derek also has contacts in media.
Meanwhile, the noose tightens on Dik Teita and his goons. It also emerges that Dik Teita was behind the death of Angela’s husband.
While the waterfall conservation saga is engrossing I found the parts dealing with Miguel’s art most appealing. It is either that the author is an accomplished art connoisseur or that he had done thorough research on all that entails art, paintings and other forms of visual art.
Whatever the case, the informed discourse on art really uplifts
Mbugua’s book.
In Different Colours, art meets nature, and it is in the appreciation of the beauty of nature that Miguel’s talent and eye for detail enriches the conservation narrative.
Due to their unconventional behaviour society tends to misunderstand artists. Most of the times artists are seen as misfits. And Miguel was no exception; in one classic moment, Miguel is told that people come to the waterfall to commit suicide. “It is a good place to die,” he says more to himself, probably after being overawed by the beauty of the falls.
Throughout the book, the author teases romantics with the probable love affair blossoming between Miguel and his widowed landlady. Even at the end of the novel, he only hints at what might come between the two.
This book, in my view, is a fitting tribute to the late Nobel Laureate, Prof Wangari Maathai. Your work, Mama Miti, was not in vain.

First of all the length of the manuscript should be between 120 – 150 pages, and should be divided in chapter form. The manuscript to be submitted should be double spaced. You should also use the Times New Roman, font size 12.
Click here to download a PDF of the rules and regulations
Deadline for Submission
All manuscripts, which must be in soft copy, should be submitted to: info@nationalbookcouncilkenya.org by Friday 30th
September 2011 at 12.00 noon.
The manuscripts will be assessed by a panel of qualified jurors based on the criteria set herein.
The winners together with the date and venue for the award ceremony will be made known through the media.

The Award is being administered in Kenya by the National Book Development Council of Kenya (NBDCK) with support from the Canadian Organisation for Development through Education (CODE). It is named after William Burt, a Canadian citizen who is a long time supporter of CODE.
According Ruth Odondi, the CEO of NBDCK, the Burt Award seeks to recognize excellence in young adult fiction, with the goal of increasing the literacy skills while at the same time nurturing a reading culture.
“As NBDCK, we are particularly concerned that school going children, particularly in the rural areas, do not have access to supplementary reading materials, which, in our view, has a negative impact on the quality of education,” she adds.
It is in pursuit of those goals that the Burt Award will consider works that target young readers between the ages of 12 and 18. She says that the Award committee will work closely with publishers for purposes of submission of manuscripts, which will then be assessed by a panel of judges who will then come up with the first three winners.
The second prize is worth Sh500,000 (6,000 Canadian Dollars) while the third prize is worth Sh250,000 (3,000 Canadian Dollars).
“We are inviting writers to come and get first hand, details of the competition,” says Mrs. Odondi.

Ruth Odondi, the CEO of NBDKC (right) with Sean Maddox, CODE's director for development

The prize is being administered in Kenya by the National Book
Development Council of Kenya (NBDCK) with support from the Canadian
Organisation for Development through Education (CODE).
The Award is named after William Burt, a Canadian citizen who is a
longtime supporter of CODE. According Ruth Odondi, the CEO of NBDCK,
the award seeks to recognize excellence in young adult fiction from
Africa, with the goal of increasing the literacy skills while at the
same time nurturing a reading culture.
“CODE and its partner organizations, which include NBDCK, have long
been involved in supporting the provision of a wide variety of reading
materials in various countries in African, Asia, the Caribbean and
Latin America, as a means of developing and supporting literacy skills
and opening up of new ideas, perspectives and awareness about social,
cultural and other relevant issues,” explains Mrs. Odondi.
She adds that the Burt Awards is therefore designed to build on the
strength of CODE’s literacy initiatives by supporting and motivating
the development of supplementary reading materials for a critical
stage of learning.
“As NBDCK, we are particularly concerned that school going children,
particularly in the rural areas, do not have access to supplementary
reading materials, which, in our view, has a negative impact on the
quality of education,” she adds.
It is in pursuit of those goals that the Burt Award will consider
works that target young readers between the ages of 12 and 15. She
says that the Award committee will work closely with publishers for
purposes of submission of manuscripts, which will then be assessed by
a panel of judges who will then come up with the first three winners.
The first, second and third prizes are valued at Canadian $ (CAN)
12,000, (Ksh945,600) 6,000 (Sh472,800) and 3,000 (Sh236,400)
respectively.
The fact that publishers will be involve in the process means that the
winning entries will be assured of getting published. It gets even
better for the writers; not only will they be published, they will be
assured of getting 3,000 to 5,000 copies of their books automatically
purchased by NBDCK.
“These copies will be distributed through CODE’s partner organizations
network of schools and libraries,” she adds.
Any author worth their salt will testify that getting to move 5,000
copies of a work of fiction that is not a set book, in Kenya, is a
tall order indeed.
“This project comes bearing goodies for the whole book chain right
from the writer, the publisher, printer to the booksellers,” explains
Mrs. Odondi.
Onduko bw’Atebe whose book Verdict of Death won the inaugural edition
of the Wahome Mutahi Literary Prize, in 2006, says the Burt Award will
be play a big role in developing writing in Kenya. “You see when the
prize money is big, the writing profession will get the respect it
deserves as opposed to now when it is seen as pass time for idle
people with nothing much else to do,” he says. “This is a massive step
if you consider that I only got Sh50,000 for the award.”
In 1997, Ngumi Kibera’s collection of short stories The Grapevine
Stories won the Jomo Kenyatta Prize for Literature and for his
troubles he got a measly Sh30,000. “A million shillings is definitely
good money for a struggling writer,” he says. “The writer is
definitely the winner as apart from the prize money, they are
guaranteed of having about 5,000 copies of their book sold, which
means more money in terms of royalties.”
On her part, Mrs. Nancy Karimi the chairperson of KPA says the Burt
Prize, with its enhanced prize money will encourage authorship. “It is
not just the writers who will benefit from the package, publishers too
will gain as they will as 5,000 copies will be bought at a go,” says
Mrs. Karimi who is also the managing director of Jomo Kenyatta
Foundation.
Mr. Muriuki Njeru, the managing director of Oxford University Press
says that small publishers also stand a chance to gain from the
arrangement, “When a small publisher has the opportunity of moving
5,000 copies at a go, the rest of the copies will not be difficult to
sell,” he explains.
Mr. Muriuki sees the Kenyan writing scene moving to the next level
once the Burt Prize comes to effect. “Our writing scene has really
come of age as evidenced by the fact that more and more Kenyans are
willing to buy books outside the school setting,” he adds.
Mrs. Odondi says that details about the rules and regulation of the
award will be announced during the launch, which will take place on
January 19. “Once we launch the prize, we are going to give writers a
nine-month grace period so as to prepare the manuscripts,” she says.

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Ever since it came into existence, Sheng has always been considered the bastard child in the family of Kenya’s languages. All ‘nice and proper’ Kenyan languages, including mother tongues, have a thing or two against Sheng.

That bile notwithstanding, today, Sheng has become the unofficial language of the masses. So popular has Sheng become almost every Kenyan wants to be identified with the language.

The popularity of Sheng has to do with its accommodative nature. It borrows generously from Kiswahili, English, and local Kenyan languages, thus there is something for every person who uses it. What is more, unlike other languages we know, Sheng does not discriminate according to class.

Maybe the scholars who are accusing Sheng of various ills should explain why a language not taught in schools is giving established languages like English, and Kiswahili, which are taught up to university level, sleepless nights.

Sheng came into existence sometime in the sixties and was invented, out of necessity, by young people who needed to understand each other and lock out patronizing adults from their conversations. It can be argued that Sheng is a product of early urbanization by Africans during the colonial period.

When the white man embarked on the colonial adventure he knew that in order to make the natives answerable to him he had to severe the cords that held together African communities. One way of doing this was by monetizing the economy and introducing mandatory taxation for every African adult. Africans were thus forced to seek employment in order to raise money with which to pay taxes.

And since Nairobi was the seat of government, Africans from different communities settled there in search of employment. Meanwhile these immigrants got children who in order relate with each other had to come up with a mode of communication that was acceptable to them. That is how they borrowed from English, Kiswahili and their native tongues, thereby giving birth to Sheng. Thus, at that time, Sheng served two major roles; one was a metaphorical meeting place between young people drawn from the various communities, and two as an avenue where they could discuss their own issues without having to worry about nosy adults.

Today, with the urbanization of other towns around the country, Sheng has been decentralized to a level where every urban centre has its version of the language. Now back to our question; why is a language picked up informally in the streets threatening languages that are taught in schools? Or to put it in another way, should languages teachers borrow a leaf from Sheng and make teaching of English and Sheng more interesting? One of the key attractions of Sheng is that apart from being quite expressive it is fun to use.

However, top of all, and what really freaks out educationists, is the fact that there are no rigid rules governing the usage of Sheng unlike in English and Kiswahili. I, for one, do not buy the argument that Sheng can affect performance in other languages. Recently, when Prof Ngugi wa Thiong’o was in the country for the Kwani Litfest, he said that in order to be proficient in any language one has to be patient and take time to study that it. Ngugi was responding to claims by some Kenyans that their local languages are ‘difficult’ to read.

“Even European children were not born with automatic knowledge of their language,” said Ngugi. “They have to go to school and learn their languages.” It is the same with Kiswahili and English. Students need to take keener interest in their studies in order to be proficient in those subjects.

Blaming Sheng is therefore a lazy man’s way of explaining things. It all boils down to discipline; knowing when to use what language; just like you can’t wear pajamas to work, or a suit to the shower.

And if Sheng is the evil that is made out to be, why are all companies falling over themselves to use it in their advertising slogans? Picture a copy writer, who grew up being told that Sheng is a language to be avoided at all costs, who now finds a bosses ordering them to come up with “appropriate phrases in Sheng!” Woe unto you if you followed the advice and avoided Sheng like the plague.

It is ironical that the scholars and educationists turning blue in the face badmouthing Sheng had no problem teaching Chinua Achebe’s Man of the People, a novel written almost entirely in Nigerian pidgin. Did you know that scholars in Europe and the US are so fascinated in the phenomenon that is Sheng that they are studying it at PhD level? You heard it right, PhD level! Don’t be surprised the next time you visit a prestigious university in the West and encounter a white Sheng expert, and they are many. And these so-called experts travel all the way to Kenya to do their research.

So, instead of giving Sheng a bad name, we should instead embrace it and milk it for all its worth. We could start by establishing research centres, where all those foreigners can pay to get information. Finally, and at the risk of being lynched by policy makers, I would suggest that some courses, like IT, be offered in Sheng. You would be surprised by how well it might be received. C’mon people, can’t we try something different for a change? It is President Obama who keeps mocking people who keep on doing the same things yet expecting different results.

When he got blinded in 1993, Henry Wanyoike had no idea which direction his life would take. Not that he had much of a life anyway. He had just finished his Form Four studies, and not having performed well, he had taken up a job as a lowly village cobbler.

Well, he had an ace up his sleeve; he sure could put his legs to good use, and boy could he run? Sadly, with his sight gone there was no way he could run, right? Wrong. Wanyoike is today one of the most celebrated blind athletes in the world. Not only is he a multiple Olympic gold medalist, he has also shattered a number of world records in long distance running.

The best part of it however, is that through his efforts he has helped restore the sight of close to 20 million people worldwide, who would have otherwise been blinded by preventable cataracts.

Through the Greatest Race on Earth, sponsored by the Standard Chartered Bank worldwide, Wanyoike participates in all their charity runs and raises funds to help rehabilitate those with cataracts. Not to mention the numerous charity efforts his Henry Wanyoike Foundation does for the less fortunate in the Kenyan society.

Well, for someone with such a massive profile, it was only natural that the story of his life be told in book form. Well, it all started with a conversation with a friend of mine, who had gone to high school with Wanyoike. That was around the time he made history by winning his first Olympic gold medal at the Sydney Paralympic Games, in 2002.

Then, I was a journalist with the Sunday Standard, where I penned his first ever full-length profile. Naturally after that our friendship grew, just as his achievements on the track. When in 2007, I suggested the idea of me writing a book about his life, there was not much objection.

And being in good terms with most publishers in the country, I had no problem getting one who would publish the manuscript. Not only did the publisher agree to the proposal, the also agreed to fund a four-day retreat in an exclusive resort in the Rift Valley, where the bulk of the interviews were done.

Henry Wanyoike (left) and yours truly at the Lake Naivasha Country Club where we did the bulk of the interviews

The release of the book coincided with the 2009 edition of the Nairobi Standard Chartered Marathon, where we sold a decent number of copies, to readers who also had the good fortune of having the book signed by Wanyoike and his guide.

Plans are underway to sell rights for the book internationally as well as making it available online. Next stop: Doing a movie out of the book, and suggestions here are welcome. Royalties realised from the sale of the book go towards the Henry Wanyoike Foundation.