Eee mbuya. 500 years from now. Abachokororia amo ne ebichembene bonsi mbamanye buna Omogusii narengeo. Nigo Omogusii agambete erwenyi engima korwa Bomanyi, goetera Tabaka ase chigware, mbaka Bogere. Mogusii tarenge mworo naende tarenge kwegesa. Below, kobacha chigware aaria Tabaka Town.
Omong'ina Clemencia: Bono ninki mokonya korikera igoro ya outdated culture, customs and traditions? Ebinto ebi mbibakonye?
Jared Nyaberi: Obe! Omongina baba ominto, Nintwe bono okoboria?
Omong'ina Clemencia: Ee mwana. Gete ninwe mokorika abw' ase Gusii.com?
Jared Nyaberi: Ee gaki omong'ina nonye some traditions and customs chiabeire outdated, ntwe okogania gwaito n' ogochirika nse, erinde abande bagotobwatia nario barache komanya buna Omogusii akamenyire. Buna Omogusii narengeo. Kogacha amariko y' Abagusii ase ebigori ebike.
Omong'ina Clemencia: Nche ndoche buna ne chinsa mosaretie. Igo bono timobwati gasi ende mogokora?
Jared Nyaberi: Gaki omongina mako moke, ntobwate chigasi togokora. Ekero twakorire chigasi echio, nario togocha twamanya kona konanageria aaiga, ase Ekegusii.
Omong'ina Clemencia: Bono rende mwana, onye mosomete buna mogotebaa, timokorika amangana aya ase Ekenyamorero nario kera omonto arayasome?
Jared Nyaberi: Eee mama ominto mbuya ogoteba. Korende okogania gwaito n' okorika amang'ana y Omogusii ase omonwa oye. Omonwa bw' Ekegusii. Tari omonwa o bande. Ntwe nigo toroche buna omonw' oito n' omwansu, naende nigo obwenerete gwetenenera bwoka.
Omong'ina Clemencia: Bono rende onye mokona korika ase omonwa bw' Ekegusii, iga mwana mosomete bori? Iga mwakorete esukuru mwana?
Jared Nyaberi: Aaa! baba ominto rero nabo okamineti bori! Eee nonye ntochieti aare, ntwabichoreti togasooma aaasininiini.
Omong'ina Clemencia: Mwana nche nigo narenge korakoigwa. Nagookigwe ne ewebusaiti eye iga. Inwe genderera ne egasi eye engiya y' okorika na kogacha amang'ana aito y' Abagusii.
Jared Nyaberi: Mbuya mono mama ase ogototarera. Naende twakoariganirie oirane gosoma Gusii.com koranyore ribaga. Chingaki chingiya.
Omongina Kemunto: Inee nyaituga, bono inwe more ase Facebook gose?
Petronillah: Ntwe? Eee baba ominto gaki. Yaani ntomoche! Gose kera onde bwensi obwate esimi ya koboko nao are ase Facebook.
Omongina Kemunto: Bono rende mwana onye more ase Facebook, igo mobwate e Facebook Group?
Petronillah: E Group? Eee baba naintwe ntwaansa e Facebook Group. Ntwe twakoariganirie to join erinde otoe obosemia obo bwao obuya na gotomenta riberera.
It only gets interesting. How do you eliminate tribalism and nepotism in government offices? According to Maragua MP, Mhe. Elias Mbau, the solution is to outlaw the use of vernacular languages in those places. So what does a tribalistic manager in a government office do? Instruct all your tribal hires and employees from back in the village to speak in English or Kiswahili only.
This means that if you are a hiring manager who loves nepotism and tribalism, this motion would not have come at a better time than now. This is a tribalistic manager's dream. From now on, your hideous actions will be shielded since all your employees speak in English or Kiswahili.
How about tribal names? Possibly give everyone a generic English name. And tribal language accents? Have everyone take a college course to eliminate tribal accents. If we can do all this, then Mhe. Mbau will not say that "Wanaendelea Kuongea Tu Kwa Lugha Yao" And that will be the end of tribalism as we know it.
"This makes contentious, article 11 of our New Constitution" Ikolomani MP Dr Bonny Khalwale. Picture courtesy of Kenya Broadcasting Corporation.
Self-destruction
No foreigner is going to kill our languages. We will. No European or American is going to tell us to discard our culture. We will do it on our own. Without foreign intervention. No shots will be fired.
Once the cultural destruction is complete, American and European preservationists and curators will attempt to preserve whatever little of our culture that is left, in places such as Paris, London or New York.Then we will start complaining that foreigners are preserving our culture and artifacts in far-flung places.
Wewe Mama, we only speak English here. We do not understand what you are saying.
But meanwhile for now, grandma and grandpa had better learn to speak in English or Kiswahili soon, or they will be excluded from receiving Kenyan government services in the future.
Under a motion passed by parliament this morning, the use of vernacular in all public offices will now be a criminal offence.This means for instance that if grandma wants to get a passport issue resolved at the Immigration Office in order to visit her grandkids in Australia, speaking in English or Kiswahili will be in order.
This anti-vernacular-in-public-offices motion was sponsored by Maragua MP Mhe. Elias Mbau and it was approved by parliament today. And yes if supporters prevail, grandma and grandpa from the village with no knowledge of English or Kiswahili cannot use their mother tongue during the course of conducting business with the government.
English and Kiswahili will unite the country more
Furthermore, this motion did not specify if non-Kiswahili or non-English speakers will get help with translations if they ever need help with a government service. Supporters of the motion insist that using English or Kiswahili will help unite the country more.
Makes article 11 of our Constitution moot
But critics of this motion such as Ikolomani MP Dr Bonny Khalwale contend that this motion makes moot article 11 of our New Constitution that promotes our culture, language and heritage. What is not clear is how this rule, if it becomes law will be enforced. Will grandma face fines, jail time or both? Stay tuned.
Enyomba ya Jared Nyabuto Nyaberi, Omosomba Bwe' Ekegusii. Picture provided by omosani o Gusii.com korwa ase Facebook, omosike Albert Ombiro
Obwana
Obwana bwoka, tinamanyete kende. Back then, I was young. Nche tinamanyete why Dr. Ngugi Wa Thiongo arenge konya gwechandera kona koirwa echera na gosibwa every so often. Always putting his family in peril and financial ruin.
He was well educated and was making a good living. Ninki arenge kona gwechandera kona gokora ebinto biare komobeka at loggerheads with the Moi regime biagera oirwa echera ime? Kona gosibwa all the time?
Just go with the flow
Why not toe the Moi line and just take care of his family? Twenty years later, I understood why.
Belief. Conviction. And action. Nigo yangirete twenty years to understand the importance of preserving culture. The importance of believing in something.
And most importantly, acting on what you believe in, no matter the barricades thrown at you on the way by your enemies. It took me almost one generation, to understand why Dr. Wa Thiongo did what he did.
Dr. Wa Thiongo tasinyire korika ase omonwa bwe Ekenyamorero buna Moi atagete. An accomplished writer, konyora Dr. Wa Thiongo orikire many books in English, the preferred language of the Moi regime.
An Accomplished writer
Some of his books include A Grain of Wheat, The Devil On The Cross, Ngaahika Ndeenda (I will Marry When I want) kerikire in Agikuyu and many more. The Moi government did not prefer anything written in a language that they did not understand. Always afraid and scared. Always running the country in perpetual fear.
Nonya nabo igo, Dr. Ngugi tanchete kobeka ebikongo on himself. Kwebekera ebitango on his capabilities. Nigo anchete korika ase emenwa emenge including omonwa oye bwo okoiborwa, the Agikuyu language. In addition, he wrote in Kiswahili and English.
And he did not need anyone to tell him what language to use. Ase baria mwagotire buna nche naende moinyorete, Dr. Ngugi Wa Thiongo tarenge mwoba ase okorika ase monwa onde bwensi buna eigwete including in Agikuyu. Obwoba was not in his vocabulary. Tarenge mwoba staging plays in Agikuyu, Kiswahili or English.
Fear and obwoba bwa Vernacular languages
At the Kamirithu Educational and Cultural Center, plays nigo chiare koba staged in Agikuyu. Nigo arigete abagaka amo ba abangina to act and stage the plays in Agikuyu. Korende President Moi tatagete igo. Moi nigo aroche nga plays chiarenge koba in Agikuyu nigo chiarenge political. Nigo chiarenge ko encourage political agitation and dissent.
Baminto, ignorance ne egento ekebe. President Moi succeeded in killing the Kamirithu Educational and Cultural Center, aaria Limuru back in 1982 na gosiba Dr. Wa Thiongo. Egento Moi atamanyete nkeri nga you can destroy the physical structures but you cannot kill the spirit of a people.
Karibuni Micii-ini iitu in Agikuyu
Why am I saying all this? Egento kiagera nainyora omogano o Dr. Ngugi Wa Thiongo nase engencho Dr. Matunda Nyanchama arika recently ase ebulogi yaye nga omosubati Marjory Kimani has launched e magazine ekorokwa Micii-ini iitu in Agikuyu.
Nonya nabo igo, egento kiangogetie mono mono nkeri nga Dr. Nyanchama answered a pertinent question abasomwa abange bakoboria. E question eyio neye: Why would Marjory launch a magazine in Gikuyu; wouldn’t be better to do a magazine in English or Kiswahili, one of our national languages?
When a language dies, a culture dies with it
Dr. Nyanchama nigo airaneretie riborio erio in an eloquent way nche ntarenge gocha go think of. Nigo atebete nga "The death of a language is more than the death of a language; with it goes the culture, a way of life and the trove of knowledge transmitted down generations via the language. Yet, as we say, msahau kwao ni mtumwa. We Kenyans, especially, stand to remain others’ slaves as we watch the erosion, decline and potential eventual death of our languages. The corruption, adulteration and distortion of these languages should be sufficient; and we shouldn’t tolerate more damage than has been done already. Our solution: speak it more, record it more and share the associated culture more".
Ase ogosoma the complete answer korwa ase Dr. Nyanchama, koranche genda ase ebulogi yaye igaa. Nche nigo nagogete nga there is someone else otari encumbered by any chains chiaramotange korika in her mother tongue.
Ee bono e mother tongue nero ntwe tokwerekererete igaa. That is what we mostly write in here and I am elated. I am most elated ekiagera The Agikuyu mbamura ba minto. The last few years buna nkona gosomigwa, nigo nanyora nga ntwe na abana bo omongina oyomo. Egento kiagerete bagatama chochia Mt. Kenya, no one knows.
Abakenya na abana abamo
Korende we will know buna togendererete kona gwesomia na koboria abakoro. That is why ntwe buna Abakenya totabwenereti kona goitana. Why not? There is no need goitana ekiagera ekero kwaboririe na korigia ase twarwete, ntwe na abana abamo. Congratulations Marjorie Kimani on your accomplishment. Naende mbuya mono Dr. Ngugi Wa Thiongo ase okoigora chinchera.
Speaking of abana abamo, engiti eye ero nigo yakanete nga tegotera ase omonwa bwo omokoloni. Nigo atebetie the French nga "Non!". "Nche nigo ngotera ase omonwa one". Omwana bwo ororeri ronde twatigete aaria Congo ekero chisokoro chiaito chianganyete gocha Kenya. Francois Luambo Luanzo Makiadi (Franco)-1938-1989 oyio na Non!
Recent Comments