By Samira Sawlani
In her 2014 novel Dust, Kenyan writer Yvonne Adhiambo Owour writes “After Mboya, Kenya’s official languages: English, Kiswahili and Silence. There was also memory.”
“Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor once said that Kenya has 3 official languages: English, Swahili and silence. But I would say our 4th language is humour. And in humor what you often find is bravery,” @johnallannamu
— Sheila B (@SheilahBirgen) January 10, 2024
10-years later, a cast of actors stood on stage in Nairobi, telling the story of a political figure assassinated in 1969, a group of young people killed in 2024, and a generation that refuses to be silent, that chooses to uphold memory.
Their origins go back to 2016 when two Kenyan performers, Ngartia Bryan and Abubakar Nuuman, came up with the idea of a TV Show known which would feature historical content, much of which would be based upon the work of Kenyan writer Morris Kiruga (also known as Owaahh) whose blog, Too Late for Worms, featured stories of less known chapters of Kenyan history, and storyteller Ogutu Muraya’s work which was based on Living Memories, a book authored by Al Kags that documents the stories of the lives of 13 Kenyans during colonial rule.
Ngartia and Sense pitched the show to local TV stations, and were told that while the idea was brilliant, it may be “too intelligent” for the Kenyan audience, a response both did not understand. Armed with the conviction that these stories needed to be told, by Kenyans for Kenyans, they decided that they would take to the stage.
Thus Too Early for Birds (TEFB) was born, premiering in May 2017 at Kenya National Theatre.
Since then the show has had various editions, uncovering Kenya’s past, going beyond and even challenging the Western version of history which so often becomes the only narrative, alongside that which is both taught and not taught in schools.
Tom Mboya: Consequential yet unknown
TEFB used the African tradition of oral storytelling to remind people that this place existed before the colonizers came and that Kenyans had their own heroes, many of whom, amid much bloodshed and terror, were at the forefront of the fight for independence, and all of which has been superbly driven by Kenya’s most brilliant performers, writers, musicians, researchers, and producers.
In 2019 a new TEFB edition came together, this time to tell the story of Tom Mboya; a political leader, pan-Africanist, and trade unionist, who went on to serve as Kenya’s Minister for Justice, he was assassinated in 1969.
Armed with hours of research, Director Mugambi Nthiga says the team were aware they were going to pay tribute to a man considered to be one of the most consequential politicians in Kenya’s history, yet so little is known about him.
The aim was to tell this story that was “shrouded in rhetoric and rumours and present it in a more factual way”, according to Nthiga, one which would resonate with a mainly Kenyan audience who we believe have been starved of an adequate historial education about our country and how we got here.
It was a goal they easily achieved.
The Mboya edition was a resounding success, then the Covid-19 pandemic put a pause on things. In 2022 a “comeback edition” was staged, and once that run came to an end, many were left wondering when and if there would be a comeback after the comeback.
This was one of the most striking things about Too Early for Birds, that there was a consistent call for more shows. Individuals would frequently take to social media, tag cast members and ask when the production would be making a return.
Aware they were in demand, in April 2024 producer Gathoni Kimuyu approached director Mugambi Nthiga, having secured funding to bring back the Tom Mboya edition.
June 2024: A pivotal moment
The cast and crew began preparations to go on stage in August 2024. Nthiga says the plan was to follow the 2019 format, which would tell the story of Mboya, while also looking at the current leadership in the country.
Then in June 2024 Kenya changed.
On the 18th of that month, young Kenyans led protests across the country over a series of proposed taxes which formed part of the controversial Finance Bill 2024. Using social media to organise and educate, the demonstrations were a testament to the power of these courageous young people so often left out of political discourse, dismissed as being uninterested in current events.
A heavy handed state response followed in some cities, including the capital Nairobi.
Each time protestors took to the streets they were met with teargas, arrests, police violence and live bullets.
Amid it all the Too Early for Birds cast would gather for rehearsals. “Protests usually took place on a Tuesday and our rehearsals would be held Wednesday-Saturday. Throughout that time the cast and crew would come in feeling low, and we would discuss our emotions,” says Nthiga.
The 2019 edition juxtaposed the leadership of then president Uhuru Kenyatta against Tom Mboya. Its intention was to ask questions, What if Mboya had lived? What if his vision for Kenya had materialised? What would that have looked like?
Its closing lines were a message to the audience that the what if’s were non-consequential, and that of more use would be to reflect upon Mboya’s life and the pivotal role he played in Kenya’s history.
Yet after the 2024 protests began, the cast and crew knew that it was no longer enough to simply reflect upon Mboya’s legacy and what could have been. If the role of Too Early for Birds was to tell stories of Kenya’s past, particularly those that had been erased or whitewashed, then they were going to ensure that the chapter which began in June 2024 would be saved from the same fate.
Each week as protests continued and the state’s response escalated in its severity, the very shape of Kenya shifted, and with this so did the Mboya edition.
New ideas began to form, at the centre of which was finding the through line between Tom Mboya, the 2024 protests and the legacy of William Ruto’s time in office, which Nthiga describes as “unforgiving of any resistance and dissidence”.
Thus the 2019 question of what would have happened had Mboya lived was no longer enough; there were other questions that needed to be asked, other horrors that needed to be highlighted – how history keeps repeating itself, how the cycle just continues, and how the leadership we have now is as authoritarian and violent as it was during Mboya’s time, Nthiga says.
“Must Go”
The cast took to the stage in November 2024, and once again Mboya’s life was unpacked, alongside a reminder that his assassination was a pivotal moment in Kenya’s history. The play could have ended there, with a full stop. However, 55 years after the assassination, young people who had taken to the streets to exercise their constitutional right to protest had been killed.
To not include their story would mean that Mboya’s would be incomplete.
While the play was still focused upon him, there was a bigger entity whose journey was being charted, its past and present being examined, future being interrogated: Kenya.
References and thinly veiled digs were made towards the Ruto government, the phrase “Must Go” was used multiple times, two words which form part of a slogan that has been used to call for the Kenyan president’s departure and has now become one of the names he is known by.
While many of these evoked laughter and a nodding of heads in the audience, there were particular moments which were particularly sobering.
A montage featuring footage of Mboya’s life and the aftermath of his assassination played on screen, transitioning into clips from the 2024 protests. All against the backdrop of a live performance of Eric Wainaina’s iconic song, Daima (Kenya Only).
The show concluded with the reminder that while Mboya played his part in Kenya’s history, many more heroes have risen and continue to rise. People who Nthiga says, turned the dial of this country’s destiny. Heroes like Rex Masai, one of the young people killed during the June 2024 protests.
They posed a question to the audience. What would Kenya be if these individuals had not lived and died for this country?
Holding Kenyan flags, the cast read out the names of all those killed during the protests, names which Nthiga says in disbelief, have never been uttered on a stage, never been uttered by a single politician, or by William Ruto himself.
Devastating to watch, yet a necessary tribute bestowing upon all those that lost their lives the dignity they deserve.
Beyond the storytelling
A report from the Kenya National Human Rights Commission said they had documented 60 deaths during the protests which took place between June and July 2024, alongside seventy-four cases of enforced disappearances between June and November 2024, and 610 cases of injuries which were sustained in the course of the demonstrations.
Those who watched TEFB may describe it as a demonstration of courage on the part of all those involved, however Nthiga says it was an act of desperation and rage, borne of a need to say something because as Kenyans we kept getting muzzled.
Considering the political environment in the country there was a sense of fear among the cast.
Despite this, Mugambi says, “If we had to choose between our safety and telling this story, we would have chosen the latter”.
This was no longer just about storytelling, it was an opportunity to speak truth to power and a way to convey what so many Kenyans were feeling, something which resonated with members of the audience.
Communications Consultant and “Zillenial” Angela Njeri describes the show as a masterpiece, adding that “there is no better case for funding the arts than the TEFB collective, because our stories need to be told by people who actually understand the gravity and gravitas of the lives lived by our heroes.”
Journalist Ramah Nyang describes watching the show as cathartic, due to what he describes as “a pattern in this country of whitewashing and burying our history while also sanitizing certain individuals”.
According to Nyang, this was further exacerbated during the time when Daniel Arap Moi was in office, where an environment of fear and loud silences was all pervasive. Alongside this was an education system which has been inadequate in telling the story of this country’s past.
“Therefore”, in his opinion, “TEFB allowed us to unflinchingly look at our past and present and remember that aspects of our history have been messy and ugly. It’s a step towards breaking the pattern of sweeping things under the carpet and saying what needs to be said.”
There is little doubt that the 2024 TEFB: Tom Mboya Edition was well researched, thought provoking and moving, but where its real triumph lies is in the way it epitomised Kenyan storytelling and humour.
Despite covering a painful chapter of the country’s history, it was filled with Kenyanisms, phrases and inside jokes (that your writer who is a foreigner proudly understood!) which had the audience in stitches.
The laughter is a reminder that the quest for freedom, liberation and justice, does not need to be devoid of joy.
This was art as resistance.
Samira Sawlani is a writer, journalist and analyst with a focus on East Africa.
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