Limuru's calling, as Ngugi wa Thiong'o Centre unveiled, Kombani launches book

Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, a renown Kenyan writer. [ File, Standard]

I’d like to extend a warm welcome to my friend, Kinyanjui Kombani, who is visiting from the fabled land of Singapore. No, his stay there has got nothing to do with the jaba tales that have been in circulation, even though that has somewhat died down in recent weeks.

Kombani is here to launch his recent autobiography, Dear Mama, which will be part of the festivities slated for tomorrow at Limuru Girls School.

And Limuru township will host another major literary fete, the launch of Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o Cultural and Arts Centre at Gitogoothi village, Limuru. This is set for Saturday, August 8.

These two are private events, which means one requires an invitation to attend, even though they have a public bearing because they involve authors and their work. Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o does not need any introduction, as one of the foremost authors and thinkers to emerge from this continent. He died last May at the age of 87.

Kombani’s age is pretty modest, so I’ll not state it here, but not so for his literary accomplishments. He was still an undergraduate at Kenyatta University when he published The Last Villains of Molo, which chronicles the first ethno-political convulsions of the 1990s.

In the event, this proved to be a dress rehearsal for the mayhem unleashed in December 2007 and early 2008, with Eldoret serving as one of the epicentres. Women and children seeking refuge in a church were turned into a burnt offering. A baby who fled the inferno was nabbed and thrown back into the fire by heartless brutes. Those are stories waiting to be told.