NOTES ON East African Drama by Godiah Rocky Imbukuleh

East African drama has been developing steadily over decades in mainly English
and Swahili languages with an exception of Ngugis I will Marry When I Want
which was first performed in Gikuyu language before being translated into
English among few others. The most prolific playwrights in the region have been
Francis Imbuga in Kenya, John Ruganda in Uganda and Ebrahim Hussein in
Tanzania all who form the backbone of this study.
Wakiente, Francis writing on the origins of East African drama says, the first sets
of written drama in East Africa were historical in nature. In Zambia, Masiye
adapted his play The Lands of Kazembe from existing journals and documents. It
is a historical play which dramatizes the first attempt by the Portuguese in 1798
to cross to Africa from Beira to Angola through the country of the fabulously rich
and powerful empire of Mwaata Kazembe. Another historical drama from East
Africa is Ebrahim Husseins Kinjeketile (1969). The author in his introduction to
the play said the Kinjeketile in the play is not the original one, it is a creation of
the imagination For instance in East Africa, Ngugi wa Thiongo was born in Limuru
in 1938 and was educated at Makarere and Leeds. He began his writing with the
publication of his first novel Weep Not Child in 1964 and his first play Ngaahika
Ndeenda (I will Marry When I want) which was critical on the Kenyan government
and he was thrown into detention without trial for months. And in collaboration
with Micere Githae Mugo, The Trial of Dedan Kimathi, another modern play was
published in 1976.
He further argues that just as the cases in west and southern Africa, the
development of modern drama followed the same pattern in east Africa.
Beginning with the oral form, it developed into the written form with the African
blend proverbs, metaphors, images, allusions, songs, and similar yields from
the vast tillage of Africas traditional oral art. However, as time goes on, the
preoccupation of the playwrights changed gradually from the traditional re enactment of the good deeds of the dead or demonstration of a hunting
expedition to issues of the environment. The colonial experience and the
disappointment resulting from the failure of the African elites to provide for the
people the basic needs became the major concern for African playwrights.
Schipper de Leeuw, W.J.J, wrting about East African drama asserts that as far as
East Africa is concerned one may think of e.g. Ngugi's plays The black hermit
(1968) and This time tomorrow (1973) and of Rebecca Njau (1960 and 1964),
Watene (1973), and Imbuga (1973) to mention only a few names. Their themes
originate from and are related to the confrontation with the western world and
urbanization. The forms of modern written drama in Africa have also been
influenced by western forms of drama : 1. The language is more often than not a
western language, especially as far as the published plays are concerned, which
besides are mostly published by European publishing houses. 2. The verbal
element dominates the music, singing and dancing. 3. The distance between the
stage and the audience becomes larger and the curtain emphasizes this distance
once more, this means often more or less audience involvement. 4. The "artistic
information" is offered in a far more concentrated form and conveyed to the

public in a much shorter lapse of time than it usually happens to be done in the
traditional situation: some hours instead of the whole night. 5. The themes have
also changed, parallel to society itself. 6. The "modern performance, especially
the one presented in the theatre is too often only attended by a small "elite", not
in the least because one has to pay entrance tickets: different audiences exist in
Africa today.
East African Drama
In this study, East Africa refers to the English (British) definition of the term
according to the website Oxford Dictionaries and as used generally in African
Literature (African literature isnt specific on this and some scholars include
Sudan Ethiopia and Somali in the category). In this case East Africa is made up of
Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. Yet in English literature Kenya and Uganda
dominate because of their obvious linguistic choices as opposed to Tanzania
whose linguistic choice is majorly Swahili when it comes to written plays. In this
context, the study will be limited to plays from Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania as
representative of the wider East African literature in English.
SYNOPSES OF PLAYWRIGHTS BACKGROUNDS AND THEIR PLAYS
Ebrahim Hussein (born 1943) is a Tanzanian writer. His first play, Kinjeketile
(1969), written in Swahili is considered "a landmark of Tanzanian theatre." The
play soon became one of the standard subjects for Kiswahili exams in Tanzania
and Kenya. By 1981, it had already been reprinted six times.
Other plays written by Hussein include: Mashetani (1971), an overtly political
play; Jogoo Kijijini (1976), an experiment in dramatic performance; and Arusi
(1980), in which Hussein expresses disillusionment with the Tanzanian political
theory Ujamaa.
Kinjeketile draws from the historical record to tell the story of Kinjeketile Ngwale,
a diviner whose prophecies help inspired the Maji Maji War against German
colonial rule in what was then called Tanganyika. Kinjeketile's chief prophecy that warriors who were anointed with water from a certain river would be made
invulnerable to German bullets - enthused his people to fight for their freedom
but also led to their total defeat and near-annihilation. Hussein's story captures
the reconciliatory efforts necessitated by the colonial oppression but held
together by a quicksand of superstition.
SYNOPSES OF PLAYWRIGHTS BACKGROUNDS AND THEIR PLAYS
Victor Byabamazima
Byabamazima was born at Kabale South-western Uganda in 1942. He attended
Kigezi college, Butobere, and Teso College, Aloet, for 'O' and 'A' levels
respectively. He graduated from Makerere University in 1968 with a B.A. (Hons),
philosophy/history. He obtained a postgraduate diploma in education, Makerere
University, 1969. He has worked as a teacher of English/Litereture in English,
Kabalega S.S Masindi, 1972-74; Lecturer N.T.C. Kyambogo, in Liberal studies,
1974-76; Headmaster, Kigezi High School Kabale, 1981-83; Distribution officer,
3rd IDA/World Bank Education project , Ministry of Education, 1988-91; Head
planning Department, Ministry of Education and sports, 1992-93; Director,
Uganda Literature Bureau, Ministry of Education and sports,1993-date.

Byabamazima, on voluntary basis, serves as board member, public Libraries

Board, Secretary/executive member Book Development Council of Uganda, and
chairperson, Literary Awards Committee of National Book Trust of Uganda.
Without any particular influences, Byabamazima concerns himself with
corruption and general moral generation of society, presumably the Ugandan
society. His work is largely satirical.
The School by Victor Byabamazima
The School is a satirical play about the greed, corruption and incompetence in
public leadership. The school is led by a headmaster who is an elderly man of
about sixty with a bald head (whether this in itself is symbolic is not clear). He
started his career as a primary teacher and rose through the ranks of school
promotions. He is a very keen scout with an inferiority complex who hides it
under stern orders. The school still has British teachers for economics, history
and religion perhaps a mockery of Africans continued reliance on the former
colonies for religious beliefs (like Christianity), aid in finances and history.
The play opens with students unrest. They storm the kitchen eating everything
and breaking anything they cannot eat. The quartermaster runs into the
headmasters office to report this disturbance but it is obvious he has limited
knowledge of English. The headmaster is abusive and inconsiderate. He calls him
all manner of abusive names. We learn that theres scarcity of food in the school
but the headmaster doesnt want to acknowledge this for his own selfish
motives. Instead, he shouts at the quartermaster that he has sacked him. There
is a misunderstanding in their conversation because of the gap between their
level of education and use of language so much that the two are always on cross
purpose whenever they communicate.
The headmaster is soon chasing Mr. Batoago (the quartermaster) around the
office before the bursar enters almost colliding with the quartermaster. There is
neither sugar nor milk in the store according to the bursar and he suggests that
they give students money (a patently ridiculous suggestion from someone in
charge of finance). The school cant buy food because it owes retailers money.
The geography teacher comes in to report that there are no students in class
but the headmaster is confident teaching will resume soon. Yet he has no plan to
solve the conundrum. Then suddenly the students attack the headmasters office
and they (bursar and company) all run through the back door. The students are
shouting no food no classes! No school no headmaster. It is a coup. In the
staffroom, the English and Maths teachers argue over language preferences and
hegemony, and the cultural implications of forcing children to speak in English
and not in local languages. The two are playing darts as they converse. They also
discuss the economics of the school materials and how the material transactions
benefit only a few individuals financially, then corruption of foreign aid and how it
never benefits the citizens.
The Maths teacher seems to understand the exploitative nature of foreign aid
and why it is not aid at all but a give and take transaction. The English teacher is
not interested in such politics. The maths teacher is definitely idealistic,
opinionated and radical. The English teacher is realistic and a bit cynical. The
maths teacher advocates for decolonisation of the children minds from western
languages and ideologies. The history teacher adds that when she came to Africa

she thought she would meet a black person (culturally) but she says she hasnt
and that all the people she has met in Africa aspire to be or behave like white
people. Many Africans are already alienated. We realise that the school
administration is using propaganda to mislead students and teachers that there
is scarcity of food in the world. Through their conversations Maths and History
teacher reveal the hypocrisy in the worldhow some countries preach peace and
prosperity and yet they wage war elsewhere. They also debate about the
usefulness of war. How war can lead to independence and other benefits.
The cultural differences between the British and the Africans is seen when Miss
Economics talks about her cat as if it were human much to the disgust of Mr.
Maths. A staff meeting is soon announced by Mr. Geography but the agenda is
not given. It is left to the teachers to speculate. Mr. Chemistry reports that there
is no water.
In the staff meeting, we see that the headmaster is dictatorial and only wants
his wishes to be obeyed (like retaining Mr. Geography as his acting secretary).
Information leak to the police about the strike but the headmaster quickly
dismisses the inspector over the phone. He tells him that he is in total control of
the situation. It is also noted that the police are not to be trusted to quell a strike.
According to the English teacher, they only bring in more chaos. Teachers raise
reasons to explain the cause of the strike, among them are lack of morals, food
and lack of communication between students and the administration. These
reasons irritate the headmaster. But moments later, students besiege the
staffroom and tie up the teachers. The school management falls in the hands of
students who must decide the fate of the school and the teachers. The bursar
and the quartermaster jump out of the window and escape into the bush. The
bursar is building a hose and has fallen short of 60,000 shillings. But he is sure to
get the amount because he admitted a son of a bank manager with low grades
who was therefore not qualified, and now he is hoping to be given a loan on
special terms.
The boss and Dolotiya (now known as Tabisa) the head sweeper, are lovers and
have a daughter in form six although Tabisa is not his wife (49).The affair has
turned her into an irresponsible and lazy servant , according to Bursar, boss
cannot take action against her apart from just issuing ceremonial warnings. This
relation has affected their professionalism. In the play it is clear the headmaster
is forcing students to eat pork from his own farm, and the rioting was as a result
of Mr. Maths telling students that eating pork reduces their sex power.
Nepotism is rife in the school and country. Boss wife is ministers cousin in
government, chair B.O.G is from same tribe as boss but the major reason Mr.
Maths masterminds the strike is to replace the headmaster as head, and he
thinks he can pull it off because he is a tribes mate to inspector of police and his
sister is the ministers girlfriend. The education chief is boss tribesman but the
ring leader of the strike belongs to Mr. Maths tribe. The whole school is almost
one tribe. So the tribal alliances are at play in the power game (52).
There is also immorality and lack of professionalism in school. Mr. Physics sleeps
with Kate, his student. Then there is the weirdest sexual pervasion of miss
economics having sex with her cat which the quartermaster observes with his
cousins (61). At the same time she is having an affair with Mr. History. After the
headmaster interrupting their conversation he demands money from the bursar

without using proper channels and actually snatches it from him (67). He uses
words like African socialism on the quartermaster, who is demanding to be given
some money because his family is starving. To show him that he cares, he gives
him Ksh 100 (71). Again they plan to collude to sell books on the streets
schoolbooks. The headmaster says that so long as his name is not dragged into
the scandal and so long as he can get his cut then he is ok with it (72). They
want to start a school for profit and they hope to get refugee teachers from other
countries on the cheap. Even the quartermaster suggests that they start an
organisation to start wars in neighbouring countries often so that the supply of
refugee teachers is constant much to the applause of the bursar. They are again
attacked by students and arrested. (75).
The students have formed a revolutionary committee to oversee the
management of the school and the anticipated transition. They collect food from
teachers houses. Some rape the headmasters wife. The committee which
belongs to the same tribe as the inspector of police organise with him to have
parents come to listen in on them as they give reasons for the strike. They plan
to put the school administration on trial. The revolutionary chair addresses the
meeting saying they now want a students cantered and dynamic headmaster.
They complain that they were starving and were being fed on pork daily. They
suffered from stomach-aches, diarrhoea etc. The teachers when put on trial have
nothing significant to say. The Maths teacher comes out as arrogant and
patronizing; the English teacher cynical; the religious teacher illogical and
religious. The economics teacher faints when her pervasive sexual practices are
revealed. The headmaster dies of heart attack but the committee falsifies the
details to show that he died while trying to flee because of ruining the schools
finances. And while escaping he fell in the pit and broke his neck. The chair and
deputy to the committee declare themselves headmaster and deputy
respectively (96). But before they finish planning this there is another
demonstration demanding for the extermination of the committee members and
its chair led by the mathematics teacher. Mr. Maths finally takes over and it
seems he has better plans for the school (98).

Austin Bukenya was born at Masaka Uganda on 10th Feburuary 1944. He is a

Ugandan poet, playwright, novelist and academic. He is the author of the novel
The People's Bachelor, and a play, The Bride.He has taught languages, literature
and drama at Makerere University in Uganda and universities in the UK, Tanzania
and Kenya since the late 1960s. He has also held residences at universities in
Rwanda and Germany. Bukenya is also a literary critic, novelist, poet and
dramatist. An accomplished stage and screen actor, he was for several years
Director of the Creative and Performing Arts Centre at Kenyatta University,
Nairobi.
The Bride by Austin Bukenya
The Bride is based on a short story Two Husbands One Night by L. M. Kimaro, in
Darlitevol. 1 no. 1 1966), a literary journal formally published by the Literature
Department of the University of Dar es Salaam. According to the playwright, (pv,
intro), the play is based on generally recognizable African realities and concepts

like the attainment of maturity through initiation, the search for supernatural
guidance and help through divination, and the crucial role of parents in the
marriages of their children. The play is, therefore offered as merely African piece
rather than as a study of a specific ethnic group.
The play revolves around a foreign girl called Namvua. And as the play opens,
there is a dance in which she is supposed to be the moon (queen or guest for the
dance among her age mates). The dance is part of the ritual to admit her to their
rika or age group. But from the onset, there is jealousy against her especially
among the girls most visibly in Kuya and Mtuta. Lekindo, who is the leader of the
initiates, is Namvuas toughest advocate much to the frustrations of many girls.
And he is quick from the onset to remind other initiates that they agreed Namvua
belongs to their rika (1). Lekindo is portrayed at once as radical, advocating not
only for integration of a stranger in the tribe but also embracing change and
cosmopolitanism. He is baying for a fight against oppressive and apparently
outdated traditions as embodied by the blind elders (2). Lekindo is supported by
Kitavi and Samisi, Malanyi and other male initiates. This soon deteriorates into a
conflict between the male and the ever jealousy female initiates. According to
Lekindo, their rika of albinos is the, or rather, is supposed to be the age group of
fire that is going to burn away the dead leaves of stupidity that has accumulated
in the plains. Perhaps albinism in this case refers to the modern concept of
hybridity and cosmopolitanism. He dreams of a society free of racism, ethnicity
and other forms of barbaric afflictions.
Eventually Kajiru replaces the missing in action Namvua. And Lekindo who
wanted to dance with the moon first is no longer so eager. It is obvious he is in
love with the foreign girl.
It soon transpires that Namvua on her way to the dance had sighted two elders,
Nangwende and Ngaghenyai planted right in the middle of the path to the arena.
She chooses to find her way to the arena through the bush. Her arrival is greeted
with cheers and discomfort. Kuye and Kajiru and Mtuta decide to leave the dance
and report the matter to the elders. Meanwhile Namvua is celebrated by the
remaining crowd, especially by men led by Lekindo. Soon the dance is exhausted
and the group disperse leaving Lekindo and Namvua in the arena. Namvua
admits that the dance was unusually forlorn. It is soon clear that Namvua
couldnt continue with the dance because she saw the two eldersNangwende
and Ngaghenyai talking to Mtuta, Kuye and Kajiru which seemed ominous.
Namvuas family faces rejection. Namvua is discriminated against because she is
a foreigner and light skinned or fair. The girls dont like her because of this fact.
Her family has tried hard to be assimilated into the community in vain. Merio
(Namvuas father) married a woman from the community and helped in the
defence of the hills but is still to be accepted fully, instead a daughter of
Ngaghenyai Merios aunts daughter had been offered to him to marry which
would be a taboo for any other person in the villageas if Merio knew no taboos.
Some people think Merio is a thief of goats because his father was a hunter.
Shundu finds Lekindo and Namvua in an embrace and says they (elders) could
not initiate her because Merio, her father, does not belong to them. They neither
know his ancestors nor where they are buried. They therefore have no sprits of
gods to supplicate for her blessings. An argument ensues between Shundu and
Lekindo and it is evident Shundu is a stickler to traditions. He advances sound

reasons why they must be respected while Lekindo is an idealistan activist who
wants equal rights for Namvua, and a departure from the oppressive and often
meaningless taboos.
Movement two, titled Secretes of the Shrine, opens in the interior of the temple
that Lerema is in charge of. Lesijore has come for Wangas blessings bestowed in
in Leramas hands. It is clear Lesijore has been at war with Wanga for some time
now. His coming to the shrine surprises Mkumbu, Leramas wife, but according
to Lerema, Wanga bides his time and has now fixed Lesijore. His millet fields are
under attack by worms, his son winced during circumcision (a shameful act), five
of his cows are rustled by the mountain savages and one of his wives flew from
home. They reason, it is possible that he is impotent and this explains his return
to humble before Wanga. He even promises to donate two cows to the shrine if
things get betterespecially if his wife returns.
Lerema and his wife have no son to inherit their wealth when they die or to
succeed them but Mkumbu thinks their dead son , Letie, is still alive in spirit
among them and that his skull represent him. Mkumbu wants a wife to be found
for Letie (or rather for the skull), which bothers Lerema.
When Shundu comes in to announce that there is transgression of their
traditions by the young men of the village and the plains, and that elders should
be summoned to invoke the protector of the plains and beseech him to descend
over his load, people gather. Shundu reports about the activities of rika of
albinos, that they have been plagued by wazimu or madness. The rituals and
incantations begin and it appears Lerema is possessed by Wanga as he chides
the people for not anticipating what is happening. For hadnt they named their
children with albino names already. Hadnt they welcomed albinos to the plains
themselves? It was to be a matter of time before the following generations would
take up the albino behaviour. Shundu is bitter that Wanga has abandoned them
in the mud. Lesijore laments about the changes (infringement) the albinos have
brought.
The albinos disdain the local gods and force children to join their religion. He
says the only solution left is killing them. He is supported by other elders but the
youths as led by Lekindo of the rika of albinos oppose the idea of killing albinos.
Lekindo advocates for peace. The fatherson conflict plays out at the Wangas
shrine. Lerema is not happy. Merio comes into the shrine and is accosted by
Lerema about the developing situation concerning Namvua. He offers a solution
that Namvua marries his dead son, Letie, a kind of ritualistic marriage. Merio is
not sure, especially how the people would take it. But Lerema is quick to add that
the image would be that he (Lerema) is the one interested in marrying a second
wife. Merio departs promising to brood on the matter.
Movement three opens in Merios homestead as Lekindo comes to get Namvua
but finds her grinding millet. He convinces her to leave. Merio reveals the
arrangement to have Namvua married to the spirit, Letie, to Tatuhis wife who is
shocked and dismayed by the news. It is apparent that Lekindo and Namvua
have been having sexual relations and this news coupled with a possibility that
she is no longer a virgin and perhaps pregnant is enough to convince Tatu (her
mother) that Namvua should get married to Letie, anyway to hide the shame.
But Lekindo and his rika of albinos is planning an offensive against the upcoming
Namvuas marriage ceremony. (47).

Movement four titled Night of the skull occurs at Leramas home at the shrine
Mkumbu prepares Letie, the skull, for the ceremony and the arrival of the bride.
There are dances and songs sang to celebrate the occasion. Namvua sitting on
the bed in the bridal chamber is uneasy and wants to go home but she is
restrained by Sikitu, who sits by her side. Namvua is oblivious of her groom. She
soon learns from Sikitu that she will actually marry Lerema and she is
immediately defensive and resentful of him. She feels abandoned and let down
by her parents. But it is not long before Lekindo and his followers break in to the
bridal chamber. Kitavi and Samiji storm the chamber searching about and find
the skull. They tell Namvua that the skull is meant to be her husband much to
her shock. In the meantime, Lekindo gathers an audience and gives a speech
spilling the beans of the conspiracy to marry Namvua to the skull and spirit. He
breaks the skull on the floor but before he is through, Lerema emerges, takes
Lekindos hand and declares that Lekindo is the heir to his shrine and will
therefore marry Namvua, this puzzles the crowd but soon everybody is dancing
and rejoicing as the play ends.

Professor Francis Davis Imbuga (1947 November 18, 2012) was a Kenyan
playwright and literature scholar whose works, including Aminata and Betrayal in
the City, have become staples in the study of literature schools in Kenya. His
works have consistently dealt with issues such as the clashes of modernity and
tradition in the social organisation of African communities. His play Betrayal in
the City was Kenya's entry to FESTAC. He also taught literature at Kenyatta
University, holding the posts of Dean of the Literature Department, Dean of Arts
and Director of Quality Assurance.
The Return of Mgofu by Francis Imbuga
The Return of Mgofu is a story about an old seer Mgofu who dies on the way
while trying to protect and lead his pregnant wife, Nora, into refugee camp in
Nderema. The wife makes it to Nderema across and the authorities at Nderema
allow them to settle in a thick forest near the border. They are running away from
their home country Mundika, which is engulfed in war. Mgofu collapses and dies
before crossing. The story is told by Thori, a messenger from the ancestors and
ThoriwaThoris wife before they died (also a messenger from ancestors). The
tribal clashes that lead to the death of Mgofu are cryptically referred to as the
first madness. Many leaders flee Mundika to settle in Nderema including Kadesa.
From the conversation between Kadesa and Mude (12), we learn that killing
during tribal clashes came as a surprise. Good neighbours rose up in arms
against another, houses were torched among other atrocities and now Mude now
suspects that another bout of attacks is about to occuranother madness in
Mundika. Eventually Nora is led to the camp by Matia, Bazia and Adonija. They
bring her to the camp in Nderema and she delivers a babya son to the late
Mgofu. This birth signals the return, more realistically the reincarnation, of the
late Mgofu. But even in Nderema, we can see tribal undertones in the
conversation between Mude and Matia. Mude thinks Nderemas original people
were criminals. There were clashes in Nderema as well, and some people ran to

seek refuge in Mundika. Adonija is sceptical of saying his name because it turns
you into a friend or an enemy to the person asking (22). Nora gives birth to
Mgofu in the refugee camp at Nderema and Mgofu grows up in the camp
knowing the camp as his home. He becomes invaluable to Nderema because of
his wisdom and wise counsel prompting Thoriwa to say the store that was
ignored in Mundika has become the cornerstone in Nderema (28), an allusion
Jesus rejection by his people only to become useful elsewhere in the Bible.
There is soon peace in Mundika, and Thori advises the people at the camp to go
back. It soon turns out that Mwami Mhando had sent messengers to investigate
the rumour that Mgofu was still alive. The scouts send reports that indeed Mgofu
lives at the camp, and is revered all over Nderema, they even take his pictures.
They say he uses words to heal the sick and that his son is the personal assistant
to the prime minister of Nderema as well as a qualified and well respected
medical doctor. Mgofus daughter studies international relations at University of
Southampton. But it is now known that Mgofus wife died four years ago. Nora
Ulivaho is the name of Mgofus daughter. And she is ever keen to visit Mundika.
Later, after getting the report from the scouts, Mwami Mhando decides to invite
Mgofu Ndonda to visit Mundika.
Eventually, the Mwami Mhandos inner circle is summoned consisting Mtange
and Mdanyathey discuss their countrys underdevelopment as compared to
Neighbouring states, especially Suguta, whose agricultural produce is much
higher than Mundika but Mdanya thinks it is not their fault as a national
leadership but the problem left by the colonialist (42).And that Suguta and other
prosperous nations inherited good roads, big jobs in international organisations
etc, left by their colonial masters but Mhando does not agree with him. Mhando
is a leader who preaches peace and he tells his advisors that he shall not witness
violence while still the leader. He needs Mgofu for this purpose to remind people
about peace and reconciliation.
Mhando is also a good leader who is not keen on staying in power. He is thinking
of relinquishing his position because his wife is not in good health but the people
requested that he stays on. In the Mgonda Ngondas shrine, he hosts a party to
welcome back his daughter, Nora, and from Mgofus speech we learn that Mwami
Mhando is planning to incorporate women in leadership positions.
Mwami Mhando has sent messengers to the ceremony to talk to Mgofu about
him visiting and Mgofu says he will give them an answer after 14 days of
mourning are over because Mhandos wife has died much to the shock of Mtange
who was not aware.
At the end of the play, a ceremony is held on the Remembrance Day to honour
the return of Mgofu who had travelled there with his daughter, Nora. It is a day to
commemorate the violence that rocked the nation so that such madness is never
recurs. When Nora speaks, she observes that Mwami Mhando is a great leader
who is trying to break the country from shackles of the past that are riddled with
war and backward policies, that Mhando wants oneness and she promises to
come on behalf of her father to honour Mgofus promise of his return for the
oneness of Mundika. And when Mgofu is welcomed on the podium to speak, he
acknowledges that its time to move on and embrace oneness, and that he
regrets not being strong enough. He is eventually overwhelmed by his physical
weakness. He was coughing uncontrollably and was barely able to stand. He is

assisted, an effort to get him to his seat but he falls. It is left to Thori to celebrate
the good gestures shown by Mgofu for reconciliation and return.

Mulwa, David Kakuta was born on April 9, 1945 in Mukaa, Machakos, Kenya. He is
a Kenyan theatre educator and writer; a recipient scholarship Rockefeller
Foundation, 1971, United States Information Agency, 1985, and Fulbright, 1993.
He is a member of Writers Association of Kenya and Kenya National Council
Churches. He holds a Bachelor degree with honours, Nairobi University, 1970 and
a Master of Arts, University of California at Los Angeles, 1973.
Redemption by David Mulwa
Redemption was commissioned by the national council of churches of Kenya as
part of its 50th anniversary celebrations in November 1989. The prologue of the
play is set in the office of the Aged One. The Aged One and the bishop Martin are
dismayed by the letter they receive about the deteriorating situation in Sector 3,
a church headed by a fiery preacher called pastor Mutema. In sector 3
attendances has trickled to a sprinkling. Only the old, the aged and the infirm
attend the church. Baptism has died out all together, tithe has weaned, and
collections are poor. There are no youth classes and activities among other
misfortunes in the church. They agree that the slump need a solution and the
Aged One already has it. According to Martin, the next pastor to rescue the
church must be a man of distinction: educated and with titles, and he is
surprised when the Aged One says it is some young manSamuel Manelaa
graduate of Agriculture and veterinary science. He is told that taking over sector
three is a daunting task. Bishop Martin is sceptical about Manelas chances.
Movement one opens in pastor Mutemas house. It is apparent that Rebecca, the
daughter to Martha and pastor Mutema is the only hope for the family. She
passed her exams and she is among the few people from the region to be
studying in the university. Rebecca is a friend to Antoninus Muthemba, son to
pastor Muthemba who is a bitter enemy of pastor Mutema. The enmity emanated
from Muthembas decision to split from section three, and especially after his
eventual success in leading the splinter group into a rich formidable churchone
of the reasons for the dwindling numbers in section three.
Rebecca has been exchanging letter with Antoninus (son to pastor Muthemba).
She protests that he is just a friend against her fathers order that she keeps off
Antoninus. Soon Antoninus comes to the house much to the annoyance of
Martha (Mutemas wife) but he is there to deliver a letter from pastor Manela.
Martha impression of pastor Manela is at once tinted by the details that he was
lodging in a bar. When pastor Mutema comes into the house, Rebecca and
Martha freeze in fear, evidence to their fearful attitude towards him. He demands
obedience from Rebecca at all times especially his order against her fooling
around with Antoninus. He is a traditionalist even in his church and critical of
sinners, modern dressing and behaviour. His rigidity is the major reason for the
decline in congregation numbers .He is a bitter man against the church
leadership calling them pestilence.

Rebecca is a modern girl who wants change from the rigid methods of her father.
Mutema still holds the outdated methods and beliefs of his mentor bishop
Haldenstein, whose picture hung intrusively in the living room. He treasures
memories of him. Pastor Mutema is told to relax the church rules so that people
can come back to church but he is not willing. Finally pastor Mutema reads the
letter in which he is instructed to hand over the church to pastor Manela.
In movement two scene one, action moves to the church grounds. Pastor
Mutema finally meets pastor Manela in a foul attitude but to his surprise pastor
Manela is calmer and less eager to get on with the handover than expected. He
is unorthodox in style and wants to talk to Mutema heart to heart. He is not
interested in ineffectual formalities but pastor Mutema is less than willing.
Mutema has been harsh, especially on a village drunkard, Ezekiel Kitaka. The two
are resentful of each other. Mutema excommunicated him from the church. He
doesnt want to associate with thieves, liars and defilers of the holy sacrament
and hates Kitaka.
Kitaka wonders what sort of a pastor Manela ishe walks into a bar as easy as
into a church (35). Kitaka is the village grave digger. It soon transpires that
Kitaka has sold his land including house to pastor Elton Muthemba, who has
promised to relocate him, along with other villagers to a new settlement about
60km down the plains where spuriously there goats can prosper. Muthemba is
the preacher of Christ reborn church. Kitakas plot is 10 acres in area. From their
disparate approaches, it is clear that pastor Manela is more understanding and
tolerant than pastor Mutema. He better interprets the scriptures and more
practically than Mutema.
Scene two opens in pastor Muthembas house. It is full of articles of splendour
and wealth, deep sofa set, ornate etc. Elton and his wife, Millicent, discuss their
fortunes especially the success of their son Antoninus, who has now settled in at
the university, and is also a popular choir master of the Angelic Voices of the
University. Elton is bitter about pastor Mutema for slandering him in public. He
even hates it that Mutema has a daughter at the university.
Elton took shortcuts in life, he has a diploma but he never worked hard for it in
school. He was opportunistic enough to see the cracks in Mutemas church and
managed to utilize it to make himself rich. He was keen to establish a church
that is tolerant to sins and more sympathetic to the people so long as they give
offerings. He even allows them to visit witchdoctors. Elton takes brandy in his
house to celebrate the birth of his church empire. He is trying to build an empire
by exploiting people like Kitaka. Millicent complains about the alienationthat
they have everything but friends. Elton responds that to be a leader you must
stand aloof else people know too much about you (47).
Chilulu comes to visit Elton and they discuss plans that involve donor funding of
an irrigation project. It becomes apparent that Elton formed his church mainly to
attract donors for projects that would make him rich. He had the mother church
publish details about poverty and malnutrition of children in his church to attract
donors but the money never reached the poor kids.
Scene three still set in Eltons house features pastor Manela and Ezekiel Kitaka
visiting Elton. They are welcomed by Millicent and offered food. Elton enters,

and as they converse, he warns pastor Manela against being too inquisitive; that
the truth will destroy him.
A little digging and you get an earthquake.(58).
Kitaka who has eight children to feed is blackmailed by Elton to sell his land, and
is supposed to be in Muthembas house picking his last instalment. Manela is
able to dissuade Kitaka from picking it, and defends Kitaka, even when
threatened by physical violence, he says he was a Buddhist once and had
practised martial art which scares Elton. His knowledge of law is also good and
intimidating to Elton. Elton refers to him as a third-rate lawyer. They had agreed
with Kitaka on a ten month instalments, worth25, 000 shillings. Elton threatens
action if Kitaka is unwilling to honour their agreement. Manela and Kitaka leave
without even being served the food Martha had proposed.
It is then revealed that Millicent was initially engaged to Kitaka. Parents had
agreed on dowry. But Muthemba had taken her away from him before marriage.
He had impregnated her and Kitaka had grudgingly allowed her to marry
Muthemba.
Movement three scene one takes place in The Church of Old Tradition. Pastor
Manela is preaching on the famous commandment Thy shall not kill, pastor
Mutema listens in contempt. Outside the church pastor Mutema meets his
daughter Rebecca with Antoninus talking and orders her to go home .Kitaka sees
hope in arch enemies children dating. Then Elton walks in on Kitaka and others to
demand for his Ksh 25,000. Pastor Manela demands that he discloses what he
(Elton) is hiding. Eventually Antoninus acknowledges that Manela is an
interesting man before leaving.
Movement three happens in Muthembas house Antoninus has invited Rebecca to
their house (Muthembas). He advises Mitukaa the servant to take a rest.
Antoninus convinces Rebecca to taste red wine. He keeps seducing her and
giving her wine in the pretext of celebrating Rebeccas first day in Muthembas
church. Millicent comes in and is informed by Mitukaa about Rebecca and
Antoninus. She wonders how her past is repeating itself before her eyes. She
sees Antoninus using the same method wine and same sweet tongue as
Muthemba used on her to lure Rebecca. After a while, Rebecca and Antoninus
surface, Rebecca looking downcast and subdued. She storms out calling
Antoninus a liar (82).
Scene four, still Muthembas house, Antoninus has now taken to alcoholism. The
drunken speech helps him to talk straight about the hypocrisy and unnecessary
walls that surround him. He is bitter that Rebecca has been thrown off into the
streets because she is pregnant. And, Kitaka who is a good and understanding
friend to him is in jail for some trumped up charges. Pastor Manela has surely
shaken the confidence of Elton and Chilulu is no longer sure about partnering
with him.
The law doesnt favour Muthemba as he had imagined because Kitaka never
consulted his family of 5 sons before selling (he was taught this right by pastor
Manela). Chilulu wants pastor Manela assassinated because he is awakening
exploited people in the area to see the light (86). At first pastor Muthemba is
reluctant but when he told Manela might cause him to go to jail and destroy the
future of Antoninus, he consents they kill Manela.

Movement four scene one opens in a small garden in the valley. Manela has
organised villagers to form a cooperative which will multiply their gains.
Muthemba who has lost his workers to the cooperative comes to threaten them
but Manela is firm. Even the sub-chief is helping in coordinating members of the
cooperative into working units. Manela has made inquiries and has been
informed that millions of dollars were poured in by the kind church abroad
enough to turn the dry valley into a swamp. The sub-chief reports that they are
carrying out investigations.
Movement four, scene two, opens in pastor Mutemas house. Pastor Mutema
laments about the church; how it has become more liberal because pastor
Manela doesnt judge people and about Kitaka being accepted, even though he
repented publicly. Rebecca enters the church, and later, after sobbing, reports
that she is pregnant by Antoninus. Mutema throws her out of the house. Martha
is livid and blames Mutemas obsession with the photo of Hardenstein, he is a
stern follower of Haldensteins ideas which include uncompromising approach to
sin. Martha rips the picture into pieces.
Movement four, scene three, again in Elton Muthembas house, Millicent and
Elton quarrel over Eltons obsession with Chilulu and it is clear Elton lied to the
people about the new Kiangati settlement, which has come to haunt the family.
Kiangati is a government land for building a national park. Antoninus comes in.
He wants to talk to his father as an adult. He protests that he has no identity of
his own. He now wants to stand on his own feet. He wants to marry Rebecca and
take care of the baby. Rebecca is now roaming the streets.
Chilulu comes in to announce that the mother church now knows about
Muthemba appropriating funds for the water project to uplift the poor from
poverty and malnourishment. Chilulu, who is a politician, finds Elton a bad
investment and therefore disowns him. Instead he throws his support behind
pastor Manela, who is now popular and respected in the area.
Movement four, scene four, Rebecca is found sleeping in the Church of the Old
Tradition by pastor Manela and Kitaka. They are expecting the Aged One to visit.
Pastor Manela is still desperate for the church attendance to start recording big
numbers, but Kitaka reassures him that people need to be given more time.
Eventually they will just come.
Kitaka tells Rebecca the story that led to him being declared and seen as an
outcast. How Elton took Millicent away from him and how he resorted to the
bottle to escape the heartache, but one day found himself raping Millicent on her
wedding day. Martha comes in searching for Rebecca, finding her; she is set to
take her home when Antoninus enters. He apologises to Rebecca, and although
hesitant at first, she forgives him. Millicent also comes in, then the assistant
chief. They announce that Elton has been arrested. Pastor Mutema comes in,
finding Rebecca in the care of pastor Manela, he thanks him. He (Mutema) asks
for forgiveness from his daughter which she gives. Finally the Aged One comes
in, finding so many people embracing in forgiveness, congratulates pastor
Manela for his good work in restoring the church to its role.

John Ruganda (30 May 1941 to 8 December 2007) was Uganda's best known
playwright. Beyond his work as a playwright, Ruganda was also a professor at
University of North, South Africa, University of Nairobi, and Makerere University.

Ruganda's plays "reflect the reality of the East African socio-political situation
after independence." He was considered a shaping force of East African theatre.
The Burdens (1972) and The Floods (1980) have become a regular part of
curriculum in Literature classes.
The Floods by John Ruganda
The Floods is the study of the abuse of power by military dictatorships in
contemporary Africa, and of the dehumanizing effects that this has on both
power-drunk agents of the state and those of the oppressed who escape total
liquidation at the hands of the former. The play also examines the inhibitory
effects of class and privilege on personal relationships. And, most oppositely, the
settings for this contemporary classic are an imaginary island in Lake Victoria,
Uganda.
The play is divided into waves in resonance with the settingan island ostensibly
about to be hit by a storm or a tidal wave of floods. It opens with the headman of
the island trying to hurry fleeing residents to the boats using an improvised loud
speaker. The flight is as a result of an announcement over the radio that the
island will be flooded in a matter of hours. Interestingly, the evacuation is only
limited to human beings and not their belongings. Those to be evacuated should
leave behind their goats, dogs, cocks pigs, cats etc. Soon the headman confronts
Kyeyune, a quaint traditionalist. The headman, himself, is a military dropout who
reveals that he had talked to a lady earlier, and the lady had questioned the idea
of the island being flooded.
She had asked questions on how anybody got to predict floods. The headman
who apparently is in charge of the rescue mission is unsure what to say to
Kyeyune when asked where the refugees are being taken to. Kyeyune wonders
how he will survive when being told to abandon his fishing nets before
embarking on the boat. The headman accuses the fisherman with a basketful of
fish for trying to exploit others when he, himself, hypocritically exploits the
fisherman by eating his fish when he leaves the basket behind to go back and
deliver a message that those still to depart should hurry.
It is Kyeyune who maintains his principles and does not share the fish even when
invited. It turns out that Kyeyune was once the best fisherman in the island until
one day, while fishing, he caught in his net a dead military man with three nails
in his head, his genitals sticking out in his mouth. From then onwards he
renounced fishing and eating of fish. Another time, he had found a human finger
in the bowels of fish. These episodes are testament to the murders commonplace
around the island and the subsequent dumping of bodies in the lake.
Suddenly Bwogo enters. Bwogo is an executive in the government and he is in
search of some lady. Kyeyune reports that she is in an abandoned building on the
couch coiled like a cobra. Bwogo goes to the house and Kyeyune towards the
boat still haunted by the doubts the woman installed in his head about the
reliability of the information announced over the radio.

The second wave opens with Nakya in the abandoned bungalow listening to
radio, over which an announcement is made confirming the rumour that the level
of the Lake Victoria is going to rise two feet above normal in the next three hours
and inhabitants of the Lake Victoria islands are therefore urged to vacate
immediately. It is also announced that the republican navy will come to rescue
stranded inhabitants. The presenter refers to the president as the benevolent
father of the nation (22).
Bwogo and Nakya are former lovers but Nakya had called it quits as seen in the
play within a play that Bwogo performs. We learn that Nakya is a writer,
chairperson of the womans lib in her homeland; she is also a recipient of the
female literary personalityJ. F Kennedy award for literary criticism, an award
that brought her a fortune of $10,000 in prize money.
Nakya is interviewed by several journalists. Throughout the interview, we realise
that some of the prizes given by such organizations as one awarded to her are
usually to tame writers from fighting against the values and people of the west
(Western Europe and N. America). For instance Nakya shouldnt talk about the
patriotic front down in Zimbabwe because they are fighting against western
colonialism being cultured she should not (35). When they realise her stand,
the white journalists become angry. And call her all manner of namesNigger,
Zimjamp, baboon, communist etc.
From their farcical conversation Nakya and Bwogo (it seems) are hesitant to
settle down and have kids. Typical of the modern woman, Nakya having
embraced western civilization thinks raising a child is tedious work. Bwogo
cannot have a family proper because he is involved in the secret dealings of the
state. Bwogo also reveals that he sees business opportunities in warring nations
or in countries where there is civil wars. Nakya complains about boss (the
president) saying there is unemployment of graduates, insecurity and misuse of
public office by MPs. MPs hike their salaries any time they want. The country is
full of nepotism; Bwogo himself is a first cousin to boss, he is a chairman of the
building board and head of state research bureau. There is also immorality and
jealousy killings .Bwogo kills Rutaro for going out on a date with Nakya and then
the story is fabricated in the papers the next morning that Rutaro was a most
wanted criminal. Bwogo slaps Nakya for telling him about the killing. Nakya again
is critical of the incompetence of weather forecasters. They are ever unreliable.
This fact is what makes her doubt the announcement about the floods. According
to her, the research bureau wants to convert the island into a human dumping
ground for those killed for political reasons. People in the country have been
traumatised like the poor fellow who netted a corpse of an army brigadier and
now goes about talking to himself all the time (Sometimes he talks to trees and
buildings). The papers never reported it because the brigadier had relatives in
the army.
Kyeyune enters and is almost killed by Bwogo. He reports that the people who
boarded boats in order to be rescued have all been murdered in cold blood by a
gang that emerged riding boats and fired bullets on them. So it is now
perceptible that the coming of floods was all along a hoax to gather the islanders
at a single vulnerable spot for them to be murdered. Bwogo is quick to blame it
on the guerrillas who are rebels to the government but it is obvious he is
employing diversionary tactics.

People are screened and because of their religion or even perceived region
where they come from killed or arrested. Boss goes away (maybe on foreign
trips) so often and when he does the purges begin. The trips are probably
calculated. They use prisons and torture to convert Muslims into Christians. From
Nankyas speech it is evident even people in government and those close to boss
are not safe. The people can easily fight backthe dead are no longer dead (67).
Bwogo lives in fear and distrust of peopleespecially any one knocking at his
door. And according to Nankya, the floods which by now mean terror against
dissidents will also sweep the likes of Bwogo floods from impoverished and
oppressed people. What goes around comes around. Eventually the shooting
begins again and Bwogo is forced to go out and see for himself what is
happening.
The third wave opens with supplications from Kyeyune to Nalubale the goddess
of the sea who was raped by Nyamgodho and since then the islanders started
experiencing floods. It is a norm by the common people to engage or resort to
prayer and superstition as a way to escape modern afflictions. From the prayer it
is clear that the problems cropping up now were created and thus anticipated.
Nankya longs for lost childhood, tending flowers at the mission, cleaning the
church and being innocent. She narrates how her mother endured hardships to
raise her up working for an African memsahib who had no manners (it later turns
out to be Bwogos parents). Nankya also highlights the hypocrisy of the
government. It kills its own people en masses and later stage state burials. It kills
its police and soldiers aimlessly and stage gun salutes for them.
Bwogo comes in a foul mood and attitude and demands scotch. Nankya confirms
that it was SRB that carried out the killings. When confronted with the reality of
SRB which is headed by Bwogo, he resorts to madness to escape reality and to
intimidate Nankya into cowardice. Through their role plays as rogue government
officers, we learn that Bwogo hailed from a rich family and Nankya from a poor
one. In fact Nankyas family worked as servants for Bwogos. When Nankyas
mother falls sick, Nankya is not even allowed to weep because the master hates
noise. According to Nankya, Boss and Bwogo hide their loot in Switzerland banks
and gold in Bengal. Bwogo who deflowered Nankya in his office on the carpet is
not sure about her pregnancy. He doesnt want to take responsibility for it and he
doesnt want (in a selfish way) Nankya to abort it (119). Bwogo is also
unnecessarily jealousy of Nankyas visit to the hospital and being examined by a
male doctor. Bwogo on his part exposes the rot in the universities where Nankya
supposedly has been promoted at the expense of other more qualified lecturers.
She is set to be professor with nothing intense to show for it. Her being single at
35 is what is ostensibly occasioning her good fortune. According to Bwogo, she
dropped her Christian name to seem traditional( a fashionable thing to do at that
time) .Then she declared herself a leftist in ideology so as to be seem as a
champion of peasants rights and welfare (on her full stomach in beauty parlours)
ironically enough. When she threatens to send a telegram to Amnesty
International reporting on the activities of SRB, Bwogo is suddenly defensive. The
government is usually quick to suppress such efforts but Nankya promises to
even engage the BBC, Voice of America, Voice of Germany, Radio America etc to
expose the heinous crimes. Bwogo tries to bring up the past good times they had
together as a couple to make her forget about such thoughts. He then alludes to
the play Medea by Euripides to describe the madness of the nationbrutalizing
its own people like Madea does to her own children; a role that Nankya played on

stage one time. Nankya used her beauty to attract men (her hips) especially on
Bwogo.
Nankya reveals that she doesnt know her father. Her mother was impregnated
by four rapists who were later hanged. Bwogo deceived Nankya, impregnated
her and jilted her. Bwogo is unpredictable, cunning, unreliable and hypocritical.
The play ends when Bwogo is arrested by the group staging a coup against the
dictatorial government that had oppressed its people for a long time. There is at
least some hope for the country and island after this arrest. Perhaps, it is a sign
of floods flowing the other way.

Ngg wa Thiong'o (who was born on 5th January 1938) is a Kenyan writer,
formerly working in English and now working in Gikuyu. His work includes novels,
plays, short stories, and essays, ranging from literary and social criticism to
children's literature. He is the founder and editor of the Gikuyu-language journal
Mtiri.

In 1977, Ngg embarked upon a novel form of theatre in his native Kenya that
sought to liberate the theatrical process from what he held to be "the general
bourgeois education system", by encouraging spontaneity and audience
participation in the performances. His project sought to "demystify" the
theatrical process, and to avoid the "process of alienation [that] produces a
gallery of active stars and an undifferentiated mass of grateful admirers" which,
according to Ngg, encourages passivity in "ordinary people". Although
Ngaahika Ndeenda was a commercial success, it was shut down by the
authoritarian Kenyan regime six weeks after its opening. Ngg was subsequently
imprisoned for over a year.
The Black Hermit by Ngugi wa Thiongo summary
Ngugi thought that tribalism was the biggest problem besetting the new East
African countries. Along with fellow undergraduates (constituting the Makerere
students Dramatic society), they wanted something original, a break with the
past, for their own contribution to the Uhuru celebrations in Uganda (1962).
Then, they had much faith in post-colonial governments. They thought they
genuinely wanted to involve the masses in the work of reconstruction. So all they
had to do was expose and root out the cantankerous effects of tribalism,
racialism and religious factions. (Preface to the play by Ngugi wa Thiongo).
Black Hermit is the story of Remi, the first of his tribe to go to university, and the
personal conflict he faces torn between rendering service to his tribe, serving his
tribes interest and his own wishes to be free and enjoy life on the first lane.
Remi supports the Africanist party which is a national party that opposes
ostensibly ideologies touching on tribalism.
This is a man from Njobe tribe. He is my brother and yours.

You should have been there, how he blamed the elders, the leader and others,
for preaching tribalism, misleading us all. Our salvation lay in the Nationalist
Party.(Black, 4647-pastor).
Remi who is liberal and progressive is dating Jane a white woman from South
Africa, now living in the country. When Remi comes to the city running away from
tribal responsibilities to live as a black hermit in the city, he meets her and their
relationship blossoms. He promises her marriage but later when the pastor from
the village comes to request him to go back to his mother, Nyobi; and wife,
Thoni, he promises to go and later when elders come to convince him to be their
leader (because he is the only enlightened man from the tribe and village)
bringing along pieces of superstition to lure him home, he decides to return
home but with different agenda from what elders wished for. The elders want him
to help them take care of their afflicted land and other troubles. They want him
to help them end taxation yet his agenda is to end tribalism and backward
customs like belief in witchcraft (which they ironically perform on him) (3132)
Thoni who is awaiting his return is unsure of Remis reaction when he comes.
They are not close because Thonis husband died. Her husband was the brother
to Remi and therefore as dictated by culture, Remi had to inherit his brothers
wife. But it is evident Remi is a believer, he believes in love. He loved Thoni but
had no guts to tell her about his feelings. Then when he goes to the university he
receives a letter that his brother is to get married, he feels foolishly betrayed
even though the brother and Thoni never knew about his feelings for her. Remi
now working as mere clerk in an oil company is not comfortable with the fact
that he married a woman who does not love him, and who belongs or whose
heart belongs to his deceased brother. This conflicting emotion of duty to his
family, wife and tribe, and his resentful emotions towards her creates conflict in
the story. Eventually Remi comes home but to urge his people to join the
Nationalistic partyAfricanist party and end tribalism. He has not come home to
be with Thoni as initially anticipated, instead, he comes with his friend from the
Njobe tribe called Omange, and he is preaching togetherness and peace,
preaching against shackles of custom (49). He wants to inculcate in his people
the need for self-help. Remis idealism and his philosophical world is shaken
heavily at the end of the play when he receives a letter from an unnamed
woman, in the letter Thoni confesses her love for himthat she had loved him all
her life. It soon becomes clear that she has committed suicide because she felt
rejected and dejected by Remis words and resentment. Remi feels that his
efforts to fight tribalism and enlighten the tribe has backfired and only destroyed
the potential love relationship he would have had with Thoni.

CRITICAL LITERATURE ON EAST AFRICAN DRAMA

East Africa drama has been studied quite extensively by scholars but the areas
that have attracted interests have been the traditional stylistic and thematic
aspects.
Joshua Wellington Kyalo, in his thesis A Comparative Study of the Vision and
Styles of Francis Imbuga and John Ruganda compares how the prevailing social
and political conditions in East Africa, especially in the post-independence period,
influence the dramas of Francis Imbuga and John Ruganda. He examines the

influence of East African reality on their plays, and explores some of the dramatic
techniques they have adopted for effective transmission of this reality,
comparing the vision of the two playwrights, as well as their techniques of
dramatic construction. His assumptions are that social, historical and political
realities in East African form of creative reservoir of the region's drama. East
African drama has acquired a sharp socio-political focus. It manifestly responds
to familiar but specific historical developments. A close analysis of the dramas of
leading playwrights like Imbuga and Ruganda reveals the socio-political temper
in the society. Because of its social commitment, a critic of East African drama
must, of necessity, assess its contributions to social development. These
contributions include values, attitudes, vision; and their manner of artistic
presentation. His study banks on the premises that East African drama functions
as a tool for social change. it explores revolutionary themes, through use of
novel strategies. As skilled artists, Imbuga and Ruganda, the study assumes
creatively present revolutionary ideas through equally revolutionary dramatic
techniques. The study is concerned with how they perceive the East African
society, and how their perception affects their style of dramatization.
Evans Odali Mugaris, in his thesis Drama of the Absurd: A Case Study of
Serumanga, Imbuga and Kosingwa sets out to investigate the nature and
purpose of the mode of absurd drama with close reference to selected plays of
Robert Serumaga, Francis Imbuga and Baranabas Kasigwa. Serumaga's three
plays A play, The Elephants, and Majangwa represent the Ugandan situation.
Imbuga's Game of Silence represents Kenya while Kasigwa's four short plays, The
Trials, The Conflict, The Absurd and The Scum present a kind of intermediate
case because of the author's dual experience. He was initially a Uganda national,
born and educated there but he is now a Kenyan. The main thrust of the study is
to explore the relationship between the style of absurd drama and its
circumstance. The aim here is to try and establish the reason for the growing
tendency towards the absurd idiom in East African drama. This tendency raises
several questions that become the focus of the study: written absurd drama
traces its origins to Europe; do the East African playwrights express themselves
in their written drama the same way as their European counterparts do? What do
the East African playwrights hope to achieve by the adoption of this genre? How
do the circumstances of the East African playwrights condition the creation of
their drama? The main thesis of his study is that the absurd in East African
drama consists more in the historical political reality than merely in the form. The
absurdity mode, therefore, is only adopted as a survivalist strategy by the
playwrights. While this study covers East African drama, it limits itself to
comparing East African absurd drama and European.

Njogu Gikunda examines the issue of dislocation as demonstrated by The Floods

in John Rugandas plays. He argues that Ruganda presents dislocation through
the exile dimension. The study argues that in The Floods, Ruganda delves into
the theme of dislocation in a combination of literary, historical and
autobiographical patterning. They conclude that dislocation is a product of
interlinked variables, which enjoy physical as well as psychic qualities.
Eliah Mwaifunge in his article German Colonialism, Memory and Ebrahim
Husseins Kinjeketile examines how Ebrahim Hussein in Kinjeketile uses

memory of German colonial rule in the then Tanganyika, a part of German East
Africa to interrogate the encounter between the coloniser and colonised.
Husseins play largely deploys the African belief system to represent a moment
of great conflict between the German colonial administration and native
Tanganyikans as the locals struggle to build national consciousness under
nascent nationalism. The paper uses a new historicist approach to determine the
discrepancy between fact and fiction, much as the play is based on an actual
event that took place in the 1905-1907 period. It argues that the reconstruction
of the Maji Maji rebellion is geared towards evoking the memory of the past to
teach the present and the future generations rather than present a historical
fact. Thus the paper demonstrates the power of memory in invigorating the
present in relation to the future.
L. A. Mbughuni, in his article Old and New Drama from East Africa observes
that Kinjeketile is one of Husseins best plays and it is indicative of this
treatment of major themes and ideas that concerns him. The playwright uses his
play to confront the tradition of the realist or socialist of African historical
tragedy. While writing, he attempt to distinguish between art and history as there
are always attempt to mix their merits. He rather suggests that the play should
be seen primarily as a work of art and the yard-stick for saying it should be
artistic. He states (p.4) that: I have had to mould my character to suit artistic
needs, borrowing freely from the imagination when historical facts did not suit
my purpose. Hussein is believed to skilfully fuse historical facts with fiction to
create a masterpiece. Though playwrights are not bound by the sanctity of
historical data, the playwright must make bold the attempt to falsify history. The
license to fabricate and falsify is not to be misused.
Machayo Olilio in his thesis Myths and Rituals in the Works of Francis D.
Imbuga critically analyses how myths and rituals function in the literary works
of Francis D. Imbuga. The thesis combines both his drama texts and those of
prose fiction. In total, the study focuses on eight books by the author. The study
notes that the author of the texts is employing myths and rituals to deliberate on
cultural woes experienced on the African continent. The discussion further points
out in the third chapter that myths and rituals also enable Imbuga to deliberate,
from a sacred point of view, on some of the social and political changes the
continent is witnessing. The study concludes that myths and rituals are indeed a
vital trope for a modem African writer in an endeavour to explain current issues
in the society.
Marti Mullel Tololwa in his article African Theatre and the Colonial Legacy:
Review of the African Scene confining the study to the East African scene, he
says Kenya has had the steadiest conditions for the notable development in
theatre. That Kenyas political and economic ideologies have had a marked and
clear impact on theatrical scenes, as opposed to Uganda and Tanzania, and
especially Uganda where theatrical development have been shrouded in political
turmoil. Idi Amin era has prevented much from being known outside Uganda.
Kenya exemplifies the struggle against colonial legacy, summed up by Ngugis
Struggle between cultural forces representing foreign interests and those
representing patriotic national interests. Unlike Tanzania, Kenya is still much
beset by colonial legacy and cultural expressions, including the theatre, and
Kenyas theatre is at the mercy of foreign interests in alliance with indigenous
neo-colonial elite.

George Outa Odera in his article The Dramaturgy of Power and Politics in Postcolonial Kenya: A Comparative Re-reading of 'Forms', in Texts by Ngugi wa
Thiong'o and Francis Imbuga examines how power is performed and manifested
in some of the dramatic texts by post-colonial African writers, especially in the
infamously dictatorial contexts such as Kenya. A corollary question raised in his
thesis is how the politically minded dramatist survives; and what indeed are the
dramatic ingredients that have made for perishing, imprisonment, banishment
and exile in those same circumstances. Lastly, and in passing, the question is
posed: what is the role, if any, of the 'Kenyan subaltern', so to speak, in his
historical predicament, in the presumed and foregoing relations of power?
These questions are answered by way of a comparative foray into the works of
two Kenyan playwrights, Ngugi wa Thiong'o and Francis Imbuga. An attempt is
made to theorise the implications of one's ' lives and methods' as represented by
the world famous and widely known, Ngugi wa Thiong'o, in fact better known as
a major African novelist, and the intensely, even satirically dissident, Francis
Imbuga. It is recognised that there is a need to subject the formal elements
deployed by some post-colonial African playwrights to more comprehensive
analyses, and to in fact, interrogate their own representations of history.
A major interest here taken by Odera is to re-read the aesthetic, and/or other
formal parameters, especially those outside the political domain that seem to
have made Francis Imbuga 'survive', including within the educational curriculum,
in spite of his intensely and sometimes highly subversive body of plays. By
comparison, Ngugi's methods are [re]considered in the play, The Trial of Dedan
Kimathi, in an attempt to indicate why the dramatist's methods and in-built
artistic strategies are critical, not just to our understanding of the reaction of the
political establishment, but equally so, to Ngugi's continued prominence in the
readings and interpretations of colonial (and postcolonial) Kenyan political
history.
Esther Wahu Karanja in her thesis An Analysis of Tragicomic techniques in
selected plays of David Mulwa focuses on three plays by Kenyan playwright,
David Mulwa, critically analyzing and discussing them as tragicomedies. The aim
is to identify and evaluate to what extent the application of tragicomic
techniques has affected the aesthetic quality and effective communication in the
selected plays. These plays, written and published in English are Redemption
(1990), Clean hands (2000) and Glasshouses (2000). Using a modification of
Northrop Frye's theory of tragicomedy known as the Ironic mode, she identifies
the combining element between tragic and comic material in the plays as irony.
This theory helps her in the analysis of the thematic concerns, artistic
techniques, plot and characterization as features of tragicomedy found in each
play. The theory also helps in the analysis of what features Mulwa borrows from
either tragedy or comedy. The analysis establishes other techniques like
flashbacks and Biblical allusions used to reinforce irony. The analysis also brings
out how the protagonist of each play pursues a disappointing goal (he is a
crossbreed between the tragic hero and the comic fool). Tragicomedy presents
an unrealized tragedy using comic devices to reflect reality. The plays have only
been analysed as dramatic texts to demonstrate that tragicomedy offers hope to
humanity amidst life's problems. Mulwa in his plays articulates issues like parentyouth conflicts, change (in both the individual and society), women liberation
and the devastating effects of the AIDS pandemic. The kind of reality reflected in

the plays has been analysed by relating the social context inside the plays to the
social context outside them. The social context outside the plays is taken to be
what is happening in Kenya or in the world as a whole.
Jackson Gikunda Njogu and Anne Kinya Muriiki in their article Cultural Alienation
and the Concept of Exile in Covenant With Death argues that the Eastern and
the Horn of Africa are both the source and home of the worlds biggest chunk of
refugees and internally displaced people. The worlds biggest refugee camp,
Daadab, is in the North-Eastern Kenya. The refugee scenario is evidence that the
East African region has been severely scarred by upheavals of various kinds,
which range from hostile physical environments wrought by nature, such as
floods, pestilence or drought. Physical conflicts in Africa have often involved
ethnic groups, individuals and political systems, but there have also been
conflicts between individuals and cultures that lead in alienation or physical
expulsion from ones community. The later causatives are the concern of their
paper. The paper critically examines John Rugandas perspective of cultural exile
in his play, Covenant with Death (1973). The period when this play was written is
significant in the history of his native country, Uganda. The country had attained
political independence in 1962, a year before the publication of the play. The
ancient kingdoms had not broken off from traditional cultures. In fact the text
addresses the problems brought by colonization on the cultural fabric on the
Baganda people.
They conclude that Ruganda has dedicated Covenant with Death to cultural
alienation and exile. He intelligently interweaves the narrative of both Matama
and Motomoto with the fabric of the specific cultures that produce and destroy
them. The text is a narrative of the predicament of the African man in a hostile
cultural milieu. The action he creates is closely bound with the East African
mans social philosophy, practice and historical crises of his own era. The theme
of cultural exile is undoubtedly multifaceted and sensitive, but his sensitivity in
handling it is commendable.
Joan M. Kivanda in her thesis A Comparison Analysis of Nine Plays by East
African Dramatists: with a preliminary examination of contemporary East African
aesthetics and politics of language analyses the aesthetics and politics of
language as a first step towards defining the East African community opinion on
theatre and drama aesthetics. She focuses on the nine plays that cover the three
main regions of English and Swahili speaking AfricaTanzania, Kenya and
Uganda. She focuses on Story Ya by Joan Kivanda, The Flying Tortoise by Tolewa
Mollel, Pullyupullus by Tololwa Mollel, Nguzo Mamaby Peninah Mhando, Aminata
by Francis Imbuga, The Rainbow by David Mailu, Chains of Juukdom by Okoiti
Omtatah, Operation Mulungusi by Patrick Mangeni and The Bride by Autine
Bukenya. She discovers that playwrights use three main ways to interact with
politics and aesthetics of the language in their works. Either they choose to
reject the English language all together and write in local languages in their
works, find ways of mixing English and local languages in their works, or simply
choose to write their plays exclusively in English. Whichever way the East African
playwrights choose to interact with the English language, language in general is
a major factor in determining the elements that define the aesthetics of East
African theatre.

Muia Jerry Mutinda in his thesis A Stylistic Study of John Rugandas Shreds of
Tenderness examines the stylistic aspects as manifested in John Rugandas text
the Shreds of Tenderness. His study reveal that Rugandas use of style enhances
his work a lot in terms of presentation of problems , building conflict and shaping
of other features in the text. The study sought to establish the figurative tropes
used in the text and their roles. Moreover, the role played by ambiguity, lexical
choice, repetition and allusion are also examined. He observes that the use of
stylistic features is of essence. They help the reader analyse the characters used
and also reveal the reason why they (characters) engage in serious conflicts.
Style also helps in establishing the context of the play and relates episodes in
the text with those in other texts, historical contexts and also other fields in the
contemporary world. The study hypothesized that Ruganda has succeeded in the
use of figures of speech in Shreds of Tenderness. It acknowledges that ambiguity,
lexical choice, repetition and allusion play roles in communication in the text
Oby Obyerodhyambo in his thesis Symbolism in the Drama of John M. Ruganda
argues that Ruganda dramatic style is dominated by symbolism, and his symbols
are mainly derived from African folklore, political events and interpersonal
relationships. He does a systematic analysis of Rugandas symbolism starting
with those that specifically emanate from the folklore materials when they are
used in the creation of plays. He does an evaluation of the symbolism as a
technique and its effectiveness with distinction made where the folklore items
form the backbone of the play, and where the items are used within the play.
The study also examines the symbolic character type emergent in the works
under four broad divisions: the politician, the intellectual, the woman and the
common man. The development in the portrayal of each of these groups is
traced from the earlier plays to more recent ones. The study looks at Rugandas
changing attitude towards these groups, and his social vision, judging from his
choice of facilitators of social change. In an evaluation of the effectiveness of the
folklore in communicating Rugandas ideas, the study highlights the potential
that folklore has for the future creation of literary texts. The study also sets out
to assess Rugandas contribution to East African and African literature by
highlighting the grandeur of his work
In a review of the floods Simon Gikandi concurs with Austin Bukenya who
interprets the floods as a symbol of the horror of historical moment that is
eroding human life in Africa (9).
In another review, Margarette wa Gacheru interprets the floods as death
sentence on the islanders and also as floods outpouring of emotions between
Nakya and Bwogo (10). The wastage of the human life within such a militarized
context is alluded to. The symbol of floods opens wider interpretations, for
example, when the floods are seen as the forces struggling to overthrow the
regime represented by Bwogo. One has to carefully analyse the allegory to
discern who these forces areintelligentsia, common men or the military.
In a study on The Role and Presentation of Women in African Drama, Ciarunji
Chesaina discusses Namuddu and Mutama of Black Mamba and Covenant with
Death respectively. From such a narrow sample of Rugandas women characters,
she concludes that his women are passive (12). Chesaina explains this as
resulting from Rugandas patrilineal background (13). She goes ahead and
compares Ruganda to J.P. Clark.

Gachungu Makini in his thesis The Drama of Francis Imbuga traces Imbugas
development into a leading playwright. The study closely examines form and
content of each of his published works and appended interviews in which he
discusses his work and that of others, and his views on theatre movement in
Kenya. The study seeks to identify Imbugas thematic concerns and literary style,
and to show the phases that these have gone through since he began writing. It
also seeks to identify the events that have influenced his writings over the years,
and to evaluate his achievement in each play. It concludes among other things,
that although he has made a significant contribution to the body of socially
committed literature, Imbuga has not fully mastered the techniques of
playwriting, yet.
Nelson O. Fashina in the journal Alienation and Revolutionary Vision in East
African Post-Colonial Dramatic Literature does a trans-disciplinary inquiry into
the principles of alienation and revolutionary ethos in two East African plays of
postcolonial society. His study engages literary-textual exegesis and sociological
theories to unravel the multi-dimensional forms of alienation as an interrogation
of contemporary postcolonial history. The writers, though somewhat in throes
and dilemma of exilic consciousness, commodify and appropriate the literary
enterprise as weapon of active physical revolt and textual indignation against the
post-independent maladies and conditions of alienation. We discover a paradigm
shift from obvious ironic strain of political, economic dissonance and use of
prison as metaphor for psychic/physical and spatial dislocation in The Trial of
Dedan Kimathi to religio-genic instrument of oppression, exploitation and
revolutionary fervor in I Will Marry When I Want. While the latter play x-rays the
combative struggle of the mau-mau warriors for an end to colonialism, the
former deploys the resources of reversed-alienation and nostalgia to enact a
melodrama of psychic and intellectual rebellion against the African capitalists of
post-colonial Kenya. Thus, he concludes, African drama is an active participant in
the critical, ideological and sociological transactions of historical materialism in
post-colonial Kenya.

WORKS CITED
PRIMARY TEXTS
Hussein, Ebrahim. Kinjeketile. Nairobi: East African Educational Publishers. 1970
Imbuga, Francis. The Return of Mgofu. Nairobi. Longhorn Publisher: 2011.
Ngugi wa Thiongo. The Black Hermit .London. Heinemann Publishers: 1985.
Ruganda, John. The Floods. Nairobi. East African Publishing House: 1980.
Byabamazima, Victor. The School. Nairobi. Heinemann Publishers:1991.
Mulwa,David. Redemption. Nairobi. Longman Publishers:1991.
Bukenya, Austin. The Bride. Nairobi. East African Publishing House:1984.
SECONDARY TEXTS
Simon Gikandis review of The Floods, in Nairobi University Players Production
programme of The Floods at the Frence Cultural Center 1st March, 1973 p.3

Austin L. Bukenya, A Heinemann Literature Guide to John Rugandas The Floods

(Nairobi: Heinemann 1986), p. 16.
Worthen, W. B. Modern Drama and the Rhetoric of Theater. Berkeley: University
of California Press, c1992 1992. http://ark.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/ft409nb32w/
Fashina, Nelson. Alienation and Revolutionary Vision in East African PostColonial Dramatic Literature Journal Issue: Ufahamu: A Journal of African
Studies, 35(2) Department of English, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Oyo State,
Nigeria, West Africa. Publication Date: 2009 Permalink:
https://escholarship.org/uc/item/63k8d46k.
archive.lib.msu.edu/DMC/African%20Journals/pdfs/.../aejp007001004.p...by TM
Mullet
Chesaina, Cianjuri, Women in Africa Drama: Presentation and Role. Ph.D Thesis
workshop theatre, school of English. University of Leeds, 1987, p. 192.
The definition of East African Literature was taken from
http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/East-Africa
The biography of Victor Byabamazima can be found on
http://uganda.spla.pro/en/file.person.byabamazima-victor.42233.html
The biography of Francis Imbuga: Postcolonial African Writers: A Biobibliographical Critical Sourcebook; edited by Siga Fatima Jagne, Pushpa Naidu
Parekh.
The biography of Austin Bukenya was found on the Encyclopaedia of African
Literature edited by Simon Gikandi: on https://books.google.co.ke/books.
The biography of Ngugi wa Thiongo on
http://www.britannica.com/biography/Ngugu-wa-thiongo/
The biography of David Mulwa on the Daily Nation of 11th July 2015.pg 21.
The biography of John Ruganda can be found on
http://uganda.spla.pro/en/file.person.ruganda-john.42233.html
Kyalo, Joshua Wellington. A Comparative Study of the Vision and Styles of
Francis Imbuga and John Ruganda(2012). Kenyatta University M.A. Thesis.
Olilio, Machayo. Myths and Rituals in the Works of Francis D. Imbuga (2012).
Kenyatta University M.A. Thesis.

Mugarisi, Evans Odali. Drama of the Absurd: A Case Study of Serumanga,

Imbuga and Kosingwa (2012). Thesis.
Tololwa Marti Mullel in his article African Theatre and the Colonial Legacy:
Review of the African Scene 2008.
G. Odera in his article The Dramaturgy of Power and Politics in Post-colonial
Kenya: A Comparative Re-reading of 'Forms', in Texts by Ngugi wa Thiong'o and
Francis Imbuga(2001).

Karanja, Esther Wahu.An Analysis of Tragicomic techniques in selected plays of

David Mulwa 2011.Kenyatta University. Thesis.
Jackson Gikunda Njogu and Anne Kinya Muriiki. International Journal of Education
and Research Vol. 1 No. 9 September 2013. Cultural Alienation and the Concept
of Exile in Covenant With Death.
Joan M. Kivanda. A Comparison Analysis of Nine Plays by East African
Dramatists: with a preliminary examination of contemporary East African
aesthetics and politics of language (1998). Online article at
http://www.joankivanda.files.wordpress.com
Muia Jerry Mutinda. A Stylistic Study of John Rugandas Shreds of Tenderness
(2013).University of Nairobi M.A.Thesis.
Oby Obyerodhyambo. Symbolism in the Drama of John M. Ruganda.M.A. Thesis
Uiniversity of Nairobi.1990.
Ciarunji, Chesaina.The Role and Presentation of Women in African Drama
(1978).Thesis.
Gachungu Makini. The Drama of Francis Imbuga Unpublished, M.A dissertation:
University of Nairobi. Haugerud (1985).
Fashina, O. Nelson. UfahamuA Journal of African Studies, 35(2). Alienation and
Revolutionary Vision in East African Post-Colonial Dramatic Literature.(2009 )
Ebrahim Husseins biography was taken from an article in the book by Alain
Ricard, "Ebrahim's Predicament", Research in African Literatures, 23 (1992), pp.
175
Eliah Mwaifunges article German Colonialism, Memory and Ebrahim Husseins
Kinjeketile is found on the online journal Research on Humanities and Social
Sciences
www.iiste.org ISSN (Paper)2224-5766 ISSN (Online)2225-0484 (Online) Vol.4,
No.28, 2014
Mbughuni, L.A. (1980). Old and New Drama from East Africa. In Eldred
Durosinmi Jones (ed.) African Literature Today. London: Heinemann Educational
Books. Vol.8. p. 86.
Schipper de Leeuw, W.J.J. rigin and Forms of Drama in East African Context Ulla
Schild, ed., Essays on English and Swahili Literature: The East African Experience,
Serie Mainzer Afrika-Studien, 55 - 65 (1980):Reimer Verlag, Berlin.
Wakiente, Francis. Development of Modern African Drama in East.Bayelsa State
College of Health Technology, Otuogidi, Ogbia Town, 45 (2014).