Mesa Iddi had a neighbour who constantly tried to influence her house help to quit her job whenever Iddi went to work.
Apparently, the neighbour thought that if the house help took off, Iddi would be forced to quit her job to take care of her four-month-old baby.
When she realised what was going on, Iddi, a 32-year-old woman from Magwangani in Likoni, went and bought a leso to express her disgust at the neighbour’s behaviour.
The leso came with a message written in Kiswahili: “Uvimbe Upasuke Hautoi Riziki” (loosely translated as “Your resentment at my success will not stop what God has planned for me”).
“Whenever I saw her seated outside, I would put on the leso and strut to the main door. I did this many times and I think she noticed and stopped bothering my house help,” says Iddi.
Such is the power of a leso or khanga among coastal women. Leso is highly regarded among the Mijikenda and Swahili communities and a woman can never have enough.
Women wear them everywhere and even when babies are born, they are carried in the soft sling of a khanga or leso. But the idea of communicating using concise messages printed on a khanga or leso is a revered culture in the coastal region.
Local women not only adorn khanga as a dress but also use it to pass across succinct messages to those they wish to thank, loved ones, newlyweds, bereaved, or haters and detractors.
If you are buying a leso for a Mijikenda or Swahili woman, look for one with writing that will suit her prevailing situation, whether it is a wedding, or passing condolences, or general wish for success or a message that will squarely hit her enemies.
For instance, if a woman detests the tendencies of a nosy neighbour, she would buy a khanga emblazoned with a writing communicating her distaste for busybodies.
“Ukimfungia mtu khanga na apate kuisoma basi atabadilika. Lakini kama ni hulka yake ya kuzaliwa basi hatobadilika” (I believe putting on a khanga with a reprimanding message can have those targeted persons change their behaviour. However, there might not be any change if the behaviour is inborn), says Mesa Iddi.
Iddi says she has used khangas to celebrate and appreciate people who have helped her out in times of need, to condole the bereaved and to reprimand her haters.
Khadija Hamadi from Jomvu says she buys lesos according to the message she intends to pass across to her neighbours.
“There was a time I fell out with a neighbour who I suspected was going to witchdoctors to ruin my marriage. I went and bought a leso that had writings, ‘Mtamaliza visigino kwa safari za umbea’ (Your heels will wear off for travelling long distances in search of gossip),” she says.
Hamadi says khanga epitomises the soul of the Kenyan and African culture, where respect for the old and need to avoid altercations even when correcting someone are important.
A leso, usually sold in pair called doti, retails at Sh250, Sh350 and Sh450, depending on the quality.
Muneeb Kaderdina, director of Kaderdina Hajee Essak, which makes lesos for Duka La Abdulla based on Biashara Street in Mombasa, says that the leso business is so competitive that one has to ensure his stock has the latest and best wording or risk being forced out of business.
“Whenever there is a new design and writing, the buzz spreads fast and customers stream into leso shops to be among the first to put on the latest leso,” he says.
