This will be a short testimony in remembrance of mukuua (elder brother) John Mbiti.
He always addressed me as mwinawa (younger brother). I intend to write a lengthier appreciation of his life and work for a future memorial conference in his honour and brilliance as a philosopher, theologian and a public intellectual of great stature. Articles written for that conference will be published in a book.
I first encountered John in 1956 through his book Mutunga na Ngewa Yake, a set book we read in primary school about a young boy from a village in Mulango, Kitui County, who goes to Mombasa. He ends up travelling to India, where he gets married to an Indian woman. John has written a sequel to this story in a book titled Wetele Ndakusaa (Those Who Wait Do not Die) where Mutunga’s story takes him to Iddi Amin’s Uganda.
In those colonial days, part of our primary education was still in our Kikamba language. Coming from a village across the river, every schoolboy in that area had heard of John. During that period, bright and educated students were praised as ones who read everything, including mathangu ma kwova nyama na munyu (newspapers that were used to wrap up meat and salt).
The metaphor of a student not satisfied with what books she/he had read, I also scavenged for any piece of any other readable material which made me understand who John was. He automatically became my role model. Bearing the name Mutunga, I used to imagine in my childish mind that he wrote that novel to glorify me!
My teachers spoke about his studies in Makelele kwa Lenzi (Makerere College) an institution he later taught at. He became a beacon we emulated. For me, such a role model was real; and John definitely contributed immensely to who I was to become, yet we had not yet met in person.
Man of all faiths
The first time I actually met John was in 2011. Interviewing for the post of Chief Justice, I was taken to task because I wore a stud in my left earlobe. I pleaded with the interviewers that I wore it under the instructions of my ancestors. I also declared I was a man of all faiths. John sought me out, photographed my stud and wrote a powerful think piece, arguing that there was nothing amiss with me being a man of all faiths.
He added that I had no option but to obey the orders of my ancestors. His intervention silenced the clergy who sought to argue that it was “satanic” for me to wear a stud and to have dialogue with my ancestors.
When the Muslims raised their voices against my stud, a friend and former colleague of John, Professor Ali Mazrui (he co-authored the piece with his nephew, Professor Alamin Mazrui), came to my defence, arguing that Islam had no decree against wearing of an earring. Governor Anyang' Nyong’o silenced politicians in an article he penned for The Standard.
After this first meeting, John and I stayed engaged in all our respective projects. I sought his wisdom and prayers on a daily basis. Public service is difficult and thankless at most times and one needs a mentor and adviser, a friend and a comrade, a person who loves you and what you do.
His writings (and those of Archbishop Tutu, Thich Nhat Hanh, Pope Francis and Paramahansa Yogananda) constantly and consistently gave, and continue to give me, intellectual, ideological, spiritual and political nourishment and guidance beyond measure.
John’s translation of the Bible from Greek to Kikamba saw me attend the launch both in Nairobi and Kitui. Professor Kivutha Kibwana and I continue to commit to John’s family that we will ensure that the Kikamba Bible is distributed to all primary schools in Ukambani and the Kamba diaspora. This was his wish. The Bible truly enriched my Kikamba vocabulary and he even taught me how to read it in a conversational manner. We kept our email communication robust and regular until he became ill some months before his death on October 5, 2019.
There is a religious persuasion within me, and whenever I voice it, especially in churches in my village (particularly during funerals), I tend to get into trouble. My defence has always come from the works of John as his scholarship has a common denominator: Humanity for all.
Original beliefs
These were our original beliefs, our first African religion before we were made to forget and forsake them via our colonial and Christian history. I believe my ancestors are created by the Almighty God and remain so, whether they converted to Christianity or Islam or any other religion. I refuse to believe that my ancestors are creations of the devil and that they do the devil’s bidding.
I discussed another idea with John, that of creating a multi-denominational shrine that gives alternative narratives to those of mainstream faiths. Different faiths are just different colours of understanding, but all still part of the same rainbow of humanity.
Our faiths should unite us, rather than divide us as the true essence of all religions is rooted in compassion and peace. This discussion has not ended with his passing. I will read everything he has written and conclude whether this idea is worthwhile or not.
Death causes us untold pain. It shakes our faith in the Almighty God. For me, John’s death is a new birth for those of us who relied so much on his wisdom, intellect, guidance and friendship. How soon another John is born to us in this world is a matter of time. That is my firm belief and comfort.
- The writer is a former Chief Justice and President of the Supreme Court.
