And so. I watched veteran journalist Jenerali Ulimwengu’s chat with esteemed Swahili scholar, Abdilatif Abdallah. Wow!
There exists aimless social media materials that we forget like a random cigarette puff. Or those informative, challenging and enjoyable. Such is Jenerali Ulimwengu’s one-year-old broadcast on YouTube, Fursa za Kiswahili Afrika na Duniani. Almost three thousand views. Pity. But Fursa za Kiswahili deserves more hits.
One of the highlights (also spread across social media platforms), was when Ulimwengu analysed origins of the word “tapeli.” Popularised by singer Hemedi Maneti in the 1980s, thanks to exiled Congolese musicians in Dar es Salaam. Like a giant ostrich egg, a demonstration of how Swahili words hatched from unexpected sources ditto the Francophone world.
Generations born 25 years ago, onwards, might not be familiar with the intellectual kilograms of Jenerali Ulimwengu or Ustaadh Abdilatif Abdallah; however, thanks to the internet revolution, they should, now.
When Professor Palagamba Kabudi said, recently, “A national treasure.” Articulate connoisseur in written and spoken Kiswahili and English (not surprising if he can manoeuvre other lingos, too) and scholar, to boot. Politically and intellectually, a fearless patriot, Jenerali constantly voices Africa’s situation and beyond. Sometimes I ask myself, does this Ngara-born thinker ever sleep? Look at his serene, bulging eyes and what comes out of that gifted head. He has held positions as a youth leader and online we are told he is also a movie actor, lawyer and “Tanzanian philosopher”…
Journalism needs proper studying (and not just talent). Here is a fitting classroom. Ulimwengu resembles an acrobat waving a rope that is as elastic as it is steel. The man never stops. You might know Rai. You might have heard the late former Speaker, Job Ndugai, mentioning him in Parliament. I started reading his columns while still in secondary school 50 years ago. That is far away!
I watched the two elders, like a symbolic endless safari, comfortably conversing at a beautiful green garden on the slopes of Mount Meru, Arusha. During the 1970s, Jenerali Ulimwengu was part of a team of brilliant reporters of then Standard newspapers (nowadays Daily News) that included Kenya’s sharp journalist Philip Ochieng (passed 2021, aged 83).
To read and hear this seasoned media personality is always refreshing and we have to be grateful he is broadcasting current in-depth Chanzo interviews and discussions.
What about Abdilatif Abdallah? A recent article in Kenya’s Daily Nation by Hanifa Adan took readers back to 1969 when Abdilatif’s life changed, forever. He was imprisoned by President Jomo Kenyatta’s government after writing: Kenya Twendapi? (Whither Kenya?).
Ironically, the poetry collection Abdilatif wrote on toilet paper, during his incarceration (Sauti ya Dhiki), would win the 1974 Kenyatta Prize for Literature. Like Ulimwengu, he has not stopped driving the tractor of his genius. Abdilatif Abdalla’s uniqueness is that you don’t immediately sense he is Kenyan. Not just because of his Kiswahili-ness, but having lived in Tanzania and overseas, he radiates East African-ness with ease. Switching between sophisticated ideas, casual conversation; never patronising, instant charisma.
Subsequently, the Chanzo broadcast showcases veteran icons, in mutual wisdom. Each time Jenerali asks Abdilatif he respectfully uses “Sheikh” Abdilatif. While Ulimwengu, wittily, analyses “tapeli,” Abdilatif, with similar calmness, listens, smiling and nodding. I do not want to break and chew this one-hour masterclass. Best you watch it and judge.
Nevertheless, I should hint that its core theme is for us “Swahilists” to wake up, promote and spread Kiswahili. “Fursa” means opportunity. Kiswahili existed long before foreigners came (Abdilatif Abdallah) and is therefore our “natural fursa…”
Abdilatif, who retired from teaching in 2011 (now a roving lecturer across the planet), warns, AI (Artificial Intelligence) will soon be part of our lives, like it or not. “Speaking a language is also thinking…” (Jenerali Ulimwengu) summing up what all this means. Bless your eyes.
