By Egara Kabaji
I met Ezekiel Alembi 25 years ago at Kenyatta University. As freshmen, we quickly bonded and became great friends for only one reason; we both wanted to be writers. His character was, however, quite different from mine.
He was a Christian of the saved type, very conscious of every move he made and always wanted to be away from trouble. He never participated in all the riots and protests we held. He never went to discos at the famous Harambee Hall and never touched the bottle. I was the direct opposite.
It was only the urge to write that bound us together.
This single most important factor made our contacts regular. As undergraduates, we first participated in a writing competition organised by Keswick Bookshop in which we both emerged second. The manuscript, The Village Star, I entered in the competition has since disappeared in one of the boxes in my store. Alembi went on to publish his manuscript, The Mistaken Identity. We studied literature and English language and were taught by some of the great names in literary circles, including Francis Imbuga, Muigai wa Gachanja, Austin Bukenya, David Mulwa, Kisa Amateshe, Mumbi wa Kinyati and Jane Nandwa.
Inspiring debates
The academic environment was stimulating indeed. That was before the advent of commercialisation of university education through which we have sacrificed quality at the altar of profit. But this is a story for another day. We had many inspiring debates that made us intellectually solid.
Alembi and I joined the same Masters class at Kenyatta University (KU) in 1990.
Our experiences as Masters of Arts students are equally memorable. It is partly because of influencing one another that Alembi and I opted to go for folkloristic studies. As he headed for Helsinki University for his PhD, I went to the University of South Africa. Incidentally, again, we both studied folk media at PhD level.
But what came to bind us even more was when we coincidentally started writing for children. Alembi was the more prolific one. His first publication, Don’t be Long John, was a hit. It was followed by yet another puller, High Adventure. These two publications launched Alembi as a writer with great promise. These two publications inspired me to write Nyenyeka the Chameleon, and The Magical Bird of Navuhi.
Alembi was by all standards a workaholic. He was capable of sitting at his table for 16 hours a day. He was highly conscious of time. He always wanted to accomplish as much as he could in a single day. It was as if he knew he wouldn’t be around long.
Alembi’s contribution to my family life is immense. As a second year student, I walked into Alembi’s room at KU and found him chatting with three women. They were first year students. I fell in love with one. It turned out that she was my lost rib. The friendship has lasted since then and we have crowned it with a number of children.
Just three weeks ago, Alembi asked me to write an introduction to a book he was working on with his student, Kamau Wango. Little did I know that it was the last time we could collaborate on a project on earth. Alembi’s hard work and dedication to his calling and his trademark loud laughter will be greatly missed. However, he has bequeathed the children of the world over 40 books. May the Almighty find him a nice carrel in a library in heaven.
—Prof Kabaji is the Director of Public Affairs and Communication in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. egarakabaji@yahoo.com
