Prof Chimera: It is the season of harvest for Kiswahili in the region

Prof Rocha Chimera of Pwani University. PHOTO| FILE| NATION MEDIA GROUP

Writer Oumah Otienoh met Kiswahili scholar Prof Rocha Chimera of Pwani University and they discussed books written in Kiswahili. Excerpts:

 

Question: One of your publications, Kiswahili: Past, Present and Future Horizons was voted in 2002 as one of the best 100 books of the 20th century in Africa. As a Kiswahili scholar, how did you receive this news?

Rocha Chimerah: It was great to be honoured as one of the best writers in Africa. I felt humbled, to say the least.

Q: Which other writers were featured on the list?

A: Most were from Nigeria, Senegal and South Africa. It’s only Wole Soyinka, Chinua Achebe (both from Nigeria) and our own novelist, Ngugi Wa Thiong’o, who had two of their books on the list.

Q: Which were the publications by these renowned African writers?

A: Wole Soyinka had Death and the King’s Horseman (1975) and Ake had The Years of Childhood (1981) on the shortlist. Ngugi Wa Thiong’o’s novel, A Grain of Wheat (1967) and Caitani Mutharaba-ini (Devil on the Cross (1987)) also made it to the much coveted list. Chinua Achebe had Things Fall Apart (1959) and Arrow of God (1964). Kenyans should know that four of our publications were on the shortlist. Mzee Jomo Kenyatta was also recognised for his book, Facing Mount Kenya (1938).

Q: Any other international awards you’ve won?

A: In 2002, Ufundishaji wa Fasihi: Nadharia na Mbinu by Prof Kimani Njogu and I won the Noma Award.

Q: Can you shade more light about this award?

A: Noma Award was established in 1979 by a Japanese, Shoichi Noma, who had a great thirst of encouraging publication of works by African authors. The inaugural literary prize was won by Mariama Ba in 1980. She’s a Senegalese female writer and this award was courtesy of her enthralling novella, Une Si Longue Lettre (So Long A Letter (1979)). Coincidentally, both of us were named amongst 100 best writers in Africa in 2002.

 

Q: One of your latest works is the Swahili trilogy, Siri Sirini. What birthed the idea?

A: Siri Sirini is my most ambitious work as a writer. The entire trilogy is 1,062 pages. Siri Sirini consists of three novels with the first one, Mfungwa na Mshairi published in 2013. The other two — Mpiga Mbizi Kilindini and Mtihani wa Mwanamke were both published a year later. The series is currently being translated into English.

 

Q: Speaking of translation, does it matter the language that a writer uses to pen his or her work?

A: A writer should communicate his thoughts in the language he or she best understands. The book may get its fame in the original language or the translated one. I wrote Kiswahili: Past, Present and Future Horizons in English and maybe if the work was in Kiswahili, it may not have been voted one of the best on the continent.

Other works have gained fame in the translated languages like George Orwell’s Animal Farm, a book studied in our schools in the late 90’s in its Kiswahili version, Shamba la Wanyama.

 

Q: One of the most studied local Kiswahili writers is Prof Ken Walibora. Can you briefly comment about his works?

A: Prof Ken Walibora is a great writer. I was privileged to have sat in the panel that approved his first novel, Siku Njema (1995) as a set book in our secondary schools. His other works that have featured in our classrooms include Kidagaa Kimemwozea and a legion of short stories (hadithi fupi) in Kiswahili anthologies like Damu Nyeusi na Hadithi Nyingine and Tumbo Lisiloshiba na Hadithi Nyingine.

 

Q: I studied Kilio cha Haki by Al Amin Mazrui during my high school days. Why still the obsession with bad governance amongst our writers several years later?

A: You’re my grandson. I was the first editor of the manuscript that birthed Kilio Cha Haki. Writers can’t avoid talking about bad governance as it continues to bedevil this great nation. I’ll continue to beseech my fellow writers to openly talk about this dragon until we finally slay it.

Q: And what’s the place of Kiswahili scholarship in Kenya today?

A: Kiswahili has made great strides not only in Kenya but in the entire East African region. It’s good news to old Kiswahili scholars like me to hear that countries like Uganda have now introduced Kiswahili up to tertiary level at university. I’m currently a visiting Kiswahili professor at Kyambogo University in Uganda. In fact, one of my PhD students, Innocent T. Yerindaro, at Kyambogo University, will be graduating later this year with a thesis titled Mofolojia ya Vitenzi vya Kinyankore. The harvest is indeed bountiful for Swahili scholars and enthusiasts.

 

The writer teaches at Ng’iya Girls’ High School in Siaya County and has authored several secondary school revision books. His play Queen of the City is being translated into Kiswahili by Rocha Chimerah. [email protected]