Mbizo Chirasha Speaks to Powerful Kenyan Poet Douglas Kaka Wanyama

MC: Who is Kaka Wanyama and what mark has she made in the Kenyan creative industry?
Kaka Manyama: I am a young man from Western Kenya, three time 1st runner up Kenya National Drama Festival-Western Kenya-Narrative category (2006, 2009 & 2010). I have had the pleasure of being the 1st AD for the 'Yes Mwalimu' TV show that ran on KUTV between Sept 2015-Feb 2016, that sought to bring the plight of Kenyan teachers to the fore using humour. I also served as the second editor of the Campus Diary Magazine where I gave a platform to rising voices across Kenyan Universities and colleges  to sharpen their creative skills and earn a decent wage while highlighting their issues. Early this year through the 'EnvironMENTAL Wellness-35 letters' creative campaign I sought to raise awareness on mental health issues and managed to bring together creatives, activists, health stakeholders and the political class together for a tree planting initiative and cycling for mental wellness and using creative arts to cope with mental challenges. 

MC: You are a poet and story teller, how do you divide your time and what inspires you?
Kaka Manyama: It is a tricky balance especially with a full time gig on the side and as such I always dedicate my morning and evenings to my creative endeavours and weekends that I have no engagement. My inspiration comes from many places especially when I'm alone with nature. Also the belief that my elementary teacher Madam Sophy had in me growing up kinda drives me. It is like she resides somewhere in my head.

MC: How has been your experience since you started writing?
Kaka Manyama: Writing has been a rollercoaster ride for me, sometimes I have this great ideas in my head when resting and once I try to put them down everything goes. Being undervalued for your creativity has also been somewhat of a headache. I have been betrayed also by people in this creative journey, I once worked on a project and submitted it for review only to come across it under somebody's name weeks later. I have gotten a family from writing, people I've never met or seen who just held my hand and guided me, supported me and it's beautiful. 

MC: What’s lessons have you learnt so far since you started and how you would like to improve the Kenyan creative arts scene?
Kaka Manyama: The greatest lesson I habe learnt is patience, there are stories that took me years to finish, others a few minutes. I habe learnt to take in criticism in all it's forms. To improve the Kenyan creative industry we need more forums and trainings on how to turn creative works to income generating activities and not side hustles. We need to empower the artists and not exploit them in the name of platform and opportunity. 

MC: How many books have you written so far, are they published yet?
Kaka Manyama: I have written three books 'Finding Millie', 'Facing Mecca' and 'The preacher from Migori' that are yet to hit the shelves but will hopefully be in bookstores early 2024.

MC: Are your writings carry the messages of social equity, creative justice and human freedoms, if any which one are those
Kaka Manyama: Human freedoms is the main message I try to carry. Embracing and owning oir personalities and speaking truth to power

MC: What do you think of Kenya’s political situation?
Kaka Manyama: We have made steady strides since independence, we have made some gains but still have a long way to go. We still need to address issues of kidnapping by state organs, we need to give freedom to minority interest groups that are still taboos in our cultural setting. We must work hard to ensure that we don't have films being banned because they touch on certain topics or because they offend moral crusaders.

MC: What is your take on the human rights environment in Kenyan, do you think human freedoms are upheld in Kenya?
Kaka Manyama: Yes, 'the preacher from Migori'  is a collection of poems that delve into the question of cultural beliefs and norms, the tug of war between what is acceptable or African enough. It explores the propability of certain roles and acts frowned upon because of religious beliefs  and what it means if the context is switched, what is good for the goose hasn't been good for the gander and the poems seek to ask this in a cheeky but blunt way.

MC: Where do you see you in next five years , I mean with your writings and artistic endeavors
Kaka Manyama: I see myself at the heart of the next creative revolution, it is my hope and dream to resuscitate the African folklore as we were told by our grandparents. To own the African story and tell it the African way.

MC: What is your parting shot to your contemporaries?
Kaka Manyama: No art is bigger, no one is greater than the other. Chinua Achebe wrote 'Let the eagle perch and the hawk also perch.' We can only ne strong if we embrace positive criticism and lift each other up. The cake is big enough for all of us to share.

Douglas Kaka Wanyama is a prolific young Kenyan Poet , Writer, Editor and Advocate of Artist and human rights. He writes versatile yet powerful verses  touching deeply on African culture, traditions, tribes, spirituality, corruption, love of humanity and other social–cultural-human concerns.