Do or do by Kinyanjui Kombani

Image Courtesy of Kinyanjui Kombani

Kinyanjui Kombani has penned Do or do a young readers novel bubbling with intend, inspiration and a lot of passion. In this story, Kombani fashions out the story of Juma aka Njugu-boy a young man whose educational pursuit seems to have come to a tragic end but soccer suddenly grants him a lifeline to escape the harsh life of Dandora. Do or do is the sad story of the numerous urban poor young people whose lives are doomed to end uncharacteristically either through a hail of bullets from feuding youth groups or from hit squads be they police or other gangs or simply succumb to hunger and other debilitating circumstances in the many sprawling slums.

In an unlikely turn of events, Juma finds himself being substituted to play as a striker for the D-Stars when Tony their key striker is grossly fouled and injured by an opponent. Although he has previously had a stint at soccer, he has never considered himself playing competitively leave alone professionally. His star begins to shine bright as he finds rhythm and good will in the team. He discovers his leadership potential as he takes up the mantle of stewardship for the D-Stars and steers them to celebrate unexpected win-after-win over teams that have been long celebrated. Will Juma become a role model that fellow youth would yearn to emulate or will someone cheat him off from his ladyluck?

However, the stars begin to dim at home when his elder brother is sent home for uncleared school fees, his mother loses her job at the city council and an almost absentee father receives summarily dismissal for misusing hid employer’s funds in betting. When their father comes home, the family harmony is destroyed, their father has become a drunkard, unreliable and quarrelsome man. Their parents’ relationship deteriorates and Juma and his brother, Mambo, look for excuses to stay away. Indeed, Mambo’s schooling dips even as Juma sacrifices to hawk groundnuts and sweets to support Mambo’s school fees.

Do or do demonstrates a typical from rags to riches story on the part of Juma. The D-Stars have nothing to lose in their games and when it dawns on them that they can actually beat renown teams, their passion is rekindled and they play for everything. The story unravels the dark side of games when a rival team tries to buy them out so that they can lose the next game in favour of their opponent. When this fails and they win their next match, the stakes become higher and the reader suspects it is a case of when not if that the D-Stars will be compromised to lose in favour of an opposing team since their socio-economic background betrays them. They know intimately that every coin they can get is a life saver.

Lady luck smiles on the D-Stars and they find themselves in the finals of the Under17-tournament. But, their assistant coach and all other players except Juma and their goal keeper Abbas have been compromised. Juma will learn about it after discovering that their Coach Freddie had been poisoned to miss the game. He is benched until almost the dying minutes of the game after they are down by three goals to none. However, his efforts and that of their goal keeper salvage two goals for them. It is during the match that he receives news that his brother and other youth have been shot by police at the infamous Dandora dumpsite.

Mambo, Juma’s brother survives the shootout but not his friends. Do or do is a romantic novel that ends with Juma receiving a prestigious offer from one of the big clubs in Europe for a mentorship programme and hope of resuming his studies. Things back at home also look up with his parents’ relationship greatly improving and the father ditching drinking. Although the story provides respite for youth living in the slums, it is not lost to the reader that the chances of this happening to any one of them are indeed very rare. But does it really matter? I don’t think so, if it can happen to one of them and change their life for the better, that is all that matters. Hopefully, the reader has faith that soccer and other forms of creative activities will become part of government infrastructure that could be used to improve the livelihoods of youth and deter them from engaging in immoral activities.  

Born on a Tuesday by Elnathan John

It is weird how at times perceptions and impressions affect how we read. I bought a copy of Elnathan John’s Born on a Tuesday at the same time with Khaled Hossein’s A Thousand Splendid Suns and The Kite Runner. However, almost two years after I finished reading Hossein’s texts, I realised that Elnathan’s was still untouched on my shelf. Probably, the wait was worth it since I confess to immensely enjoying the story. Yes, Khaled Hossein is a great writer, emotionally so and I will definitely post my take on the two titles I read – as long as I can find the emotional strength to do so but so is Elnathan John’s Born on a Tuesday.

This is the story of Dantala – one who was born on a Tuesday aka Ahmad. I wouldn’t describe it as a riveting story but it is nevertheless a gripping and an enjoyable narrative with a dark lining. In this story, the writer exposes the human follies that catalyse errant political, social and religious behaviour. As a coming of age novel, Born on a Tuesday outlines Ahmad’s challenges as he learns religious content from Malam Junaidu. In his mentorship, Ahmad discovers his prowess at mastering Arabic and Hausa languages, an asset that he will live to treasure later in life.

On the contrary, when he is sent away for his training, Dantala is separated from his family something that creates a filial fissure that is irreparable. Dantala’s brothers convert to Shiite Muslims, a separatist group of Muslims that is at longer ends with other Muslims. The mode of prayer for the Shiites differs and so are their other religious beliefs and practices. Much later when the Mujahideen are introduced to the community through Malam Abdul-Nur, the reader knows only too well that the opium being fed to the masses is going to bring about a catastrophe.

Malam Abdul-Nur has been a right-hand man to Sheikh but his Yoruba roots are perceived as a betrayal since the Yoruba’s are largely associated with Christianity. When Abdul-Nur establishes his camp and begins to conduct divisive, acrimonious religious teachings, the reader is plunged right into the centre of the creation of suicide bombers, a replica of the activities of the dreaded Boko Haram. Indeed, soon after, conflicts become normalised, grotesque human killings abound and the general populace begins to live in fear. Although the Sheikh tries his best to preach peace as calmly as his demeanour depicts, the psycho-social damages caused by religious brainwashing are irreparable. In fact, the Sheikh is beheaded in cold blood during one of his preaching sessions.

Woven into this chaotic fabric of politics and religion is the story of Dantala and his quest to preserve the beautiful memories of his family. He is especially fond of the memories of his mother, Umma, and his innocent childhood that is raptured after he is sent away for religious tutoring. The reader empathises with Dantala when he first gangs up with a bunch of street children in the opening pages of the story. This bit demonstrates Dantala’s inability to reconcile himself with his family both physically and emotionally. It is during his stint with Banda and the other gang that he is initiated into political violence as they are misused by politicians to maim and cause fracases to opposing political sides. Dantala first tastes murder when they attack the local offices of the ruling party. His redemption is underscored by his remorse and the reader’s knowledge that most of their actions are inspired by drug abuse – especially wee wee (weed).

It is only when Banda, Dantala’s benefactor, is shot dead that Dantala chooses to change for the better. However, all his efforts are quashed when the region at large implodes and other people and himself are taken captive by the police and subjected to torture in the pretext that they were the ones causing violence and killings. How Dantala survives is a miracle. He is scarred forever and the memory of the loss of his mother does not help any single bit. She died as a result of the trauma she encountered through losing her husband and then soon after her twins who were washed away by floods. This is a haunting story but one which demarcates a thin line between truth and fiction. I am glad Dantala got another shot at life since everything else ended up being gobbled in a dark pit of death, ugliness and darkness. At least Dantala and Jibril represent a possible future generation that can patch up things for the better.

Although Dantala does not get the love of his life, although he does not get to be reunited with his brothers and although he never lives to reap the fruits of the religious mentorship from Sheikh, the reader is able to discern the possibility of redemptive pieces in the narrative. Yes, the politicians are a lost case and the police – well, nothing much can be said about them but a glimmer of hope resides in the believe that Allah knows the intentions of our hearts even when we act otherwise. For instance, Dantala and other fellow youth engage in errant activities that young people are wont to. But their yearning for better character and standing humanises them and sets centre stage for the country’s healing. I am glad that my review of this text gets born on a Tuesday!!

Of Pawns and Players by Kinyanjui Kombani

I don’t know if I have ever bet in life but what really is betting? If taking a swipe at love or imaging that things will change for the better in life is part of a bargain, then I must have bet in one way or the other. However, the craze that has swept the country and many other parts of the world at large in form of sports’ betting seems to have inspired Kinyanjui Kombani to pen Of Pawns and Players. Although this story targets a young readership, it is generally appealing to a wide audience. I loved the simple language, the familiar setting and definitely mutura since I have at one time in life gone to lengths to satiate my appetite for the same when I did reside in Kawangware and my good Friend, Peter Onyancha and I had to board a matatu all the way to Uthiru for the delicacy. God knows I still miss that mutura guy to date.

However, in Of Pawns and Players, Kombani takes advantage of a mutura vendor’s setting to weave an interesting story that has a dark side for many families. In this story, the myths are demystified and the reader can discern, aptly so, that it is the company that wins not the one who bets. This is the story of Thomas Karamu and an unlikely romance that never happens although many a reader would have wished to see the relationship blossom. One could easily accuse Kombani for short-changing the reader. How come the classic poor boy meets rich girl does not magically happen in this story? This I guess, is a story for another novel or sequel? Honestly, Kombani don’t fall for this!!

One of the things I enjoyed the most in reading Of Pawns and Players is the humour. Consider the thrashing of Thomas in the opening page; although this is meant to elicit pity on the part of the reader, the narrator, Thomas himself, makes it enjoyable for us when he describes the esiorori – I imagine the many stars that one sees before hitting the ground when they receive a heavy hit on the head. The reader is invited to take a ride as Thomas journeys into a myriad of puzzles trying to decipher who could be after him. When he rules out the dreaded kanjo, county police, the reader knows that he/she has begun a mystic journey which portends both thrill and fear.

When Thomas encounters Aria, his life changes. Aria’s father, Mr Walaki the owner of a betting company MoneyBet, the reader discovers the trickery and the fraud that is the betting game. The reader will also later learn that most of the multimillion companies engage in shady deals some of which involve drugs and drug-trafficking. Thomas is drawn into this web of wealth creation since the betting firm sees an opportunity to rope in many more poor clients. The company wishes to take advantage of hoodwinking the masses that a poor mutura guy is the grand winner thereby catapulting many poor people to imagine that they could be next in the line of winners. It is a popular trick that has born great fruit previously.

Image Courtesy of  https://www.jamesmurua.com

Unfortunately, Thomas is in for a bigger surprise since Aria is planning on tricking him from their earlier plans. His win is well choreographed and Thomas receives a lot of publicity as a poor mutura guy who has won three million dollars. The moneyBet company engages social media, a famous journalist and a popular comedian to hype the win and keep it trending on different social media platforms. This of course helps to market the company. However, what many people don’t know is that Thomas has been coerced to accept a deal where most of the money drawn from the bank will be given back to the company and he will receive a small token of appreciation and continue with his normal life.

Consequently, what most people view as life-changing circumstances from crazy betting wins are nothing but lies. Most if not all winners continue to wallow in poverty. The plan that Thomas has with Aria is to defraud the company the money and plough it back into families affected by betting to help turn around their economic tide. But Thomas discovers that Aria is also planning to defraud him. However, it is Thomas and his friend Elisha who have the last laugh when they con Aria and her friend Danny of the money. As the writer and the common saying goes, both Mr Walaki and his daughter are in for a big surprise: watajua hawajui!

There are great moral lessons to be drawn from this story concerning betting but to say that is all that the story advocates for would be misleading. This is a beautiful story about simple happenings in life like taking a boda boda ride or buying mutura in the street at the places of residence. It is a story of passion, yearning to make it in life and hopefully falling in love and enjoying the fine things in life. Does this happen? Will the novel grant the reader a romantic ending? Read and discover who the pawn or the player is in this story and be careful lest you discover that utajua hujui in the process!

Although I drafted my review long before the 2019 Wahome Mutahi shortlist was announced, I am happy that Kombani won the coveted humour prize.