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Hesbon Owilla

A work of art, they say, is independent of the artist and once an artist has published a piece, then the meaning is the interpretation which resides with the consumers. 

Now King Kaka Sungura’s song Wajinga Nyinyi, is one song that has had different interpretations. 

While a majority seems to agree that it has exposed the ills of the society, others argue that the musician has only drawn from newspaper headlines and rumours to defame individuals. 

I tend to identify more with the latter, but first, let us see why Kenyans are celebrating this song which is artistically inept. In fact, the only positive in the song, or is it spoken word, are the confidence and boldness. 

But why are Kenyans celebrating a song that essentially insults all of us? Could it be the bandwagon effect that has taken hold of a vocal minority who have gone online to attack anyone who attempts to touch King Kaka? 

This social media-driven outrage seems to have even scared some leaders who have for all intents and purposes been defamed in the lyrics. Evidently, there is a silent majority that is mute because they fear the wrath of the loud majority. 

Look at it this way. Here is an artist who is saying things we already know in a very mechanical and mundane manner. There are better-spoken word artist of lesser popularity who have articulated these issues much better and are not making basic assumptions like King Sungura. 

I mean, not all Kenyans voted for Jubilee and it is not like this government is not fighting corruption. On the contrary, the war on corruption seems to be on course. 

There are areas where you can easily loud the Jubilee government in its agenda, and even if we have issues with our leadership, we cannot reduce ourselves to celebrating a guy whose history of fighting for a just society is as absent as a pork marketer in Oman.

In essence, celebrating King Sungura’s song is underscoring the fact that we are indeed wajinga.  We are not and I refuse to join this minority that has already resigned to King Sungura’s label. 

You see, an artist is supposed to moralise the society and if he decides to do that as a whistle-blower and acts through action by disclosure, he needs to disclose that which we do not know. 

Simply put, action by disclosure is when an artist uses art to tell society an ill that it is not aware of and in the process of doing so, calling the society and the powers-that-be into action. 

King Sungura fails to do this because he does not tell us anything we don’t know. In fact, he tells us things we know very well and leaves us worse off by giving a zero way out while insulting us in the process. 

Celebrating that is actually affirming our idiocracy and I refuse to be lumped with gullible Kenyans who are now united in celebrating King Sungura. 

My parting shot to Kenyans who are quick to unleash outrage is very simple. The civic duty of a good Kenyan is not knowing who is corrupt and who is not or who has shaken whose hands and who is campaigning for office in 2022. 

The noble duty of a Kenyan should be to understand the problems that bedevil this country, identify the opportunities, tap on the opportunities to solve these problems and working earnestly to address the problems. 

That will begin with the public conversations in the public domain. These conversations need to be illuminating and conversations around Sungura’s song are not. — The writer is a Research Associate Graduate School of Media and Communications, Aga Khan University