As usual, the Villager is always on the move here and there, as the Kenyan brothers would say, “Kama Kawaida” or as the young generation would say, “It is kawa”! To me, going places is part and parcel of my livelihood! Since I left the village, I have vowed to represent all of you (the villagers that were not fortunate enough to leave the village).
As usual, the Villager is always on the move here and there, as the Kenyan brothers would say, "Kama Kawaida” or as the young generation would say, "It is kawa”! To me, going places is part and parcel of my livelihood!
Since I left the village, I have vowed to represent all of you (the villagers that were not fortunate enough to leave the village).
To many of my fans, that is good, how else would I keep you informed? As the Rwandese say, "akanyoni kataguruka ntikamenya aho bweze” (a bird that does not fly never knows where corn is ripe)!
This time round, I decided to run far away from home to a spot on the Kenyan Easter Coastal city, and that is none other than Mombassa! Mombassa is the second-largest city in Kenya.
Lying next to the Indian Ocean, it has a major port and an international airport. The city also serves as the centre of the coastal tourism industry. The original Arabic name is Manbasa; in Swahili it is called Kisiwa Cha Mvita, which means "Island of War”, due to the many changes in its ownership.
That is as far as I could gather about why and how it earned its name (I stand to be corrected if otherwise).
This greatly collaborated one of my maternal uncle’s usage of the word Mambasa for Mombassa! This old man had been a war veteran in the KAR (Kings African Rifles) regiment that served in the East African Coast, Madagascar, Ceylon and Burma.
On his return, he had a military suit that was well decorated on the left side of the Chest! This time around, Mfashumwana was not about to retrace his uncle’s footsteps, I was on my own device, looking for some bit of fun as well as business.
I left Kigali aboard the National carrier (RwandAir),
these chaps have a really nice "Bird”, and the metallic man made creature, flies all the way from Kigali to Mambasa or rather Mombasa without perching at all! While in the "stomach” of the big bird (read aeroplane), the good home boys and girls, kept us feeling at home even when we were nearer to God than home!
This reminds me of the battle of two old cattle keeping men in Mbarara, one had a thousand or so herds of cattle while his friend (rival) had about five hundred plus a very prominent son.
The richer of the two used to brag to his friend that, "if I pile my cows one on top of the other, I will be able to reach heaven and say hi to God”!
Naturally, the other one was not amused! One
day, his son who lives in Kampala came for him and on his way back, he sent him on-board a chopper.
He requested the "driver” (read pilot) to stop (read land) in his neighbour’s compound. On disembarking, he ran shouting out aloud "Ruhanga yakuramutsya” (God says hi to you)!
(To be Cont’d)