Remembering Whispers, the ‘Son of the Soil’, 15 years later

Wahome Mutahi, also known as “Whispers”, Son of the Soil, was committed to what he called “liberation journalism”.

What you need to know:

  • Wahome poked holes in the contractions of political, economic, social and cultural institutions. He used his pen to deconstruct power and open it to ridicule.
  • Nothing in society was free from Wahome’s satirical pen.

Wahome Mutahi, also known as “Whispers”, Son of the Soil, was committed to what he called “liberation journalism”. This allowed him to challenge political and social power in his writings and performances. He used his writings to ask critical questions about the direction the Kenyan society was taking.

Although he wrote many articles, mainly in theSundayNation andStandardnewspapers, Wahome is most associated with the “Whispers” column which spanned over 20 years. Written in the 1980s, 1990s and part of 2000s, the column was a social commentary organised as vignettes set around the fictitious “Whispers”; his wife “Thatcher” and their two children, Whispers Jnr and the Investment (also known as Pajero).

He used the Whispers fictional household and Kenyan grammar and idiom to bring to life critical social issues and to lampoon the political elite for its gluttony and violation of citizen rights.

Nothing in society was free from Wahome’s satirical pen. Everything could be presented as a rumour or whisper and then parodied and subjected to reversal in the pursuit of a more inclusive, free and fair nation.

Through ambiguities and interpretative diversity, Wahome poked holes in the contractions of political, economic, social and cultural institutions. He used his pen to deconstruct power and open it to ridicule.

LIFESTYLE AUDIT

Because we are undertaking a national exercise of lifestyle audit, let us consider for a moment Wahome’s letter to Mzee Daniel arap Moi which he wrote “as a fellow Kenyan whose payslip is malnourished”.

In the letter, the Son of the Soil addresses the fact that Mzee’s official monthly salary is only 40,000 bob. Is it possible, Whispers wonders, that good old Jomo did not confide in Moi the actual pay for the job of being President? After all, he opines, there are better paying jobs in this our country!

Why didn’t Moi become a traffic police officer where the practice of ‘kitu kidogo’ reigns? Why didn’t he apply to be a land registrar where he would make files disappear and reappear at convenience?

After asking a series of rhetorical questions, Whispers attempts to answer them playfully. Is it because Moi does not take Jeremiah’s waters made at Ruaraka or is he a magician?

In fact, the idea that Mzee could be a magician was floated by none other than the Investment alias Pajero. The Investment had asked her dad: How is it possible for someone to earn Sh40,000 and spend Sh5,000 a day in a fundraising event? Towards the end of the column, Wahome shares a payslip which rumours claim belongs to Mzee.

Evidently, although the monthly salary is only Sh40,000, Mzee’s tax free allowances run into millions. The letter to the Head of State is, of course, a criticism of the corruption that had permeated the Kenyan society and which continues to do so to this day.

A book "Best of Whispers: Politics, Family and Society" launched during the 15th memorial celebration for late humour columnist Wahome Mutahi popularly known as Whispers. The launch was held at Pawa254 offices in Nairobi on July 20, 2018. PHOTO | ANDREW KILONZI | NATION MEDIA GROUP

But Wahome also wrote at a time when the free flow of ideas was resisted by the political elite. Different formations, unhappy with the embezzlement of public resources by the political elite and the shrinking of democratic space vital for free expression, organised lectures and distributed leaflets calling for fundamental reforms.

At the core of these formations was the Mwakenya movement, which operated clandestinely. At the time, ideas were seen to be inherently subversive and consequently many university lecturers, students and journalists were arrested and charged with sedition, especially after Kenya became a de jure one party state following the August 1982 attempted coup.

Wahome Mutahi was arrested and charged with knowing about the existence of Mwakenya and not informing the police. He was jailed for 15 months, after spending time at the Nyayo torture chambers, about which he was to write inThree Days on the CrossandThe Jail Bugs. He continued writing his column and undertaking other activities in support of artistic freedom and human rights after prison. His other books includeDoomsday, The Miracle Merchants, Mr Canta, Hassan the Genie, The Ghost of Garba Tula, Just Waitand See andHow to be a Kenyan.

In these works, he makes fun of the ‘uniqueness’ of the culture of institutions and individuals. The absurdity of our obsession with things foreign is, for example, captured in the story of how a Kenyan will go to London and buy a suit made in Kenya and available in Nairobi at twice its local price. According to Wahome, “the pain of paying dearly is compensated by the pride in saying, ‘I bought this suit in London’”. He also makes fun at how we use the telephone to torture our interlocutors, tea in offices, our level of detail as we give directions (no vaa) and behaviour in queues.

While at the University of Nairobi, Wahome was a member of the Free Travelling Theatre and knew the power of performing arts in the decolonisation project. He was fully aware of how Ngugi wa Thiong’o had worked with workers and peasants in Kamiriithu to raise fundamental questions about governance and the accountability of leaders. He was also conscious of the power of local languages in raising the consciousness of the economically-marginalised.

PUBLIC SPACES

Through Igiza Productions, Wahome embarked on a project of reclaiming public spaces, such as bars and restaurants, for political work. He took theatre to the people throughMugaathe Mubogothi(‘His Delirious Highness’) co-written with Wahome Karengo;Mugaathe Ndotono(His highness, the Club) co-written with Njuguna Wakanyote andMakarira Kioro(They will cry in the toilet), co-written with Ndungi Githuku. All these plays sought to open up the democratic space through a caricaturing of political leaders and the demystification of power. They re-energised the pub as a discursive performance space.

His choice of Gikuyu as the language of performances was deliberate. He took the view that there is nothing wrong with belonging to an ethnic group or speaking local languages.

In any case, ethnicity is an identity; a form of belonging based on certain social and cultural attributes. It is one of the many identities we carry along. We are journalists, urbanites and have socially constructed genders. We invoke these identities depending on the circumstances in which we find ourselves.

Furthermore, if ethnic identity can be used by the political class to keep its hold on power, it can also be invoked to challenge the misuse of public resources and demand citizenship rights. It is when ethnic identity is used to discriminate, exclude and perpetuate unfair practices against other groups in the society that it becomes dangerous and volatile.

To keep the memory of this social critic alive, the Kenya Publishers Association launched the Wahome Mutahi Literary Prize which debuted in 2006 and is held every two years. The celebration of his life and the launching of The Best of Whispers by the family and partners points to the power and resilience of creative arts. They just don’t die.

 

Prof Njogu is a Director at Twaweza Communications, Nairobi. [email protected].

More about leadinghumour columnist

‘Whispers’ was born on October 24, 1954, at the peak of the Mau Mau liberation struggle.

Throughout his life, and in his creative endeavours, he carried the cries for freedom which he had heard around him as a child growing up on the slopes of Mt Kenya.

These cries entrenched in him a rebellious streak; a resistance to conformity and a restlessness against containment. He sought freedom in all its forms, including linguistic and artistic. He took the liberty to coin words and to use an array of literary tools to humour and critique society in one thrust.

As a young man, he joined the church and became an altar boy and then joined the seminary. However, he rebelled from priesthood after suffering from what he called ‘nearer-the-church’ syndrome.

He wanted to experience life in the streets. But the religion did not leave him and one comes across Catholicism in many of his writings. This might also explain why, whereas he took the liberty to laugh at all aspects of life, he was cautious about spirituality in its essence.