PROFESSOR KATAMA MKANGI, FORGOTTEN BANTU WARRIOR

Located at the lowest part of a sloppy village, overlooking the port city of Mombasa and the Indian Ocean is a home to what remains of the village’s ancestors. It is here that a torch for Kilifi County was buried never to shine again.

A champion for democracy, education and a longtime critic of President Daniel Arap Moi, he is no other but Professor Katama Mkangi; famously known as “profesa” to the villagers here.

I look at the white tiled grave. Tall grass surrounds it, dwarfing its walls making it hard to sight from far. Moving close glittering gravel, spread a top reflects the midmorning sunshine. Perhaps this is a way of greeting those visiting by the departed, now resting in peace. That is if the words written on his grave are anything to go by.

His deeds and determination will forever be remembered. However a question lingers in my mind “Is this the way he wanted us to remember him?” I pause to give the question a hard thought, and then I notice something about the grave.

Unlike the others, cracked and eroded cemented graves surrounding it in the cemetery, this one is intact. The material used in building it must be of different quality. I am left with no choice but to believe that it is a privilege given to people of immense importance when they pass away. How else could this be explained, if not so?

Profesa was indeed a game changer not only to the community but also to Kenya and the rest of the world at large. This he achieved through his writing and lecturing in various universities across the country.

He was an intelligent politician, who had the “mwananchi” at heart. The only hope and icon there was to both the old and young in his ancestral village Mango, Rabai constituency, Kilifi County.

His believe that education is power to free the coastal people from poverty, was openly seen when he sponsored poor high school and college students. He also provided learning materials to top performing primary pupils. A benefit that was short lived as his life was cut short by a reckless driver. A loss that saw budding scholar’s dreams shuttered since they could not afford school fees. Like the falling of a big tree that leaves birds with no nests, beneficiaries of his sponsorship were in despair.

How can I forget of that day, when my mother broke the news that my grandfather was no more with her teary eyes? The events that followed will forever be engraved in my mind. Villagers from Ribe, Kambe, Rabai and Mitsajeni to mention but a few kept away their differences and gathered at Mango just to give the man a fair thee well. Women wept at the top of their voices, men sobbed and a dark cloud of sadness engulfed us.

I have never seen unity in such measure. Not even political differences built a barrier. I saw it among the former Prime Minister Hon Raila Odinga, Hon Charity Ngilu and the late Hon. Karisa Mitha when they came together and said they will make sure promises made by Prof. Katama to complete building a church are fulfilled. This painted a picture of hope but still sadness I felt now that he was not going to see what he had caused.

I was just thirteen then but I felt like a section of my heart had been ripped off. Tears swelled in my eyes. My role model, let alone a relative that I had just completed reading his book “Walenisi” was gone never to return again. I wished I could play Jesus Christ, perform a miracle and resurrect him but wishes are not horses.

Profesa was a voice to the silent majority, so strong like a Bantu warrior that not even a two year detention in the infamous Nyayo house could change his mind and determination to achieve more democratic space in Kenya. Together with Prof Isaiah Ngotho Kariuki and Maina Kinyatti, he served the detention after an arrest on March 5, 1986.

Despite people not taking him seriously, Mkangi had a vision as Prof Kivutha Kibwana kept it across as he paid tribute to the fallen pioneer of pluralism in the country. A vision that saw him vie for presidency on a Kenya National Congress Party ticket (a party he formed), in the 1997 General Elections.

His exemplary literary works and distinguished career in the academia that spanned several decades will forever keep him alive in our thoughts. So did say retired President Mwai Kibaki   in his message of condolence, when he heard of his death after a ghastly road accident at Ikungu, nine kilometers from Voi town.

The sociology lecturer died on the spot when his Toyota car, registration KAM 047 hit an oncoming Isuzu car with foreign registration numbers on 31.3.2004.

 It is in the same spirit of prof. Katama, that a resource centre named after him stands at Ribe old town. The structure has a long history in the village. Many have seen it change names depending on the purpose it serves. Once it was a market then a tailoring college, there after a Sunday school and now a resource centre.

However despite its new function as a resource centre, it remains under lock and key. This is for no other reasons but because there are no resource materials. Let alone its small capacity.

At its strategic position, Professor Katama Mkangi resource centre could be of help to many. This is because the county has a single National Library in Kilifi town, making it inaccessible for those leaving far.

As I leave the cemetery questions run through in my mind. First if he was to wake up would he be pleased by the new devolved system of government? Perhaps he would now that he was vocal about Majimboism. Secondly, how will he take the news of poor education performance in our county? Thirdly will he still hold on to the mantle as the Bantu warrior or will he hand it over?

As I rest my case I echo his slogan “koma tsi mulungu dzulu”. The Bantu warrior is dead and forgotten, enough said.