Koigi wa Wamwere
Koigi wa Wamwere is one of Africa’s leading freedom activists. He was born in Kenya in 1949. His family was relatively poor, and he grew up in a remote rural community. Despite the brutality often in evidence in his schools, he was a successful student, and he was awarded a scholarship to study hotel management at Cornell University. While he was at Cornell, Koigi read the writings of Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, Robert Kennedy, John F. Kennedy and others, and this exposure to the principles and ideas of the Civil Rights Movement changed his direction in life.
Koigi left Cornell in 1973 and returned to Kenya to work for civil freedoms and rights that had been long denied the Kenyan people (see Kenya – History). He worked at first as a freelance journalist. Later, Koigi stood for election, and became a member of Kenya’s parliament. He spoke out bravely for his constituents and for the Kenyan people, in the process criticizing and pressuring the dictatorial President Arap Moi and his government. As a result he has spent much of his adult life, a total of thirteen years, in Kenyan prisons, often enduring conditions of psychological and physical torture. His life was repeatedly in danger. An international campaign, in which Dalton First Program students and Dalton parent Neil Getnick were involved, eventually resulted in Koigi’s release from prison.
Koigi in a Nairobi courtroom in 1992, fighting for his freedom yet again. (AP Photo).
Now, at last, largely through the work of fearless activists like Koigi, Kenya has a new, democratic government. Koigi wa Wamwere is a prominent Member of Parliament for the District of Subukia in this new government. Among other initiatives, Koigi has founded the Subukia Scholarship Fund to help educate children in his district. Koigi wa Wamwere is a prolific writer, and has written plays, poetry, and books, including his autobiography “I Refuse to Die”, and “Negative Ethnicity: From Bias To Genocide”.
Koigi has emerged from his many imprisonments and sufferings more dedicated than ever to the cause of freedom and democracy. His unwavering commitment to nonviolence and activism on behalf of the poor and dispossessed is a continuing source of inspiration to those who know him.
USEFUL SOURCES AND LINKS
(the first three references were also used as sources in the writing of this webpage).
- Koigi wa Wamwere, I Refuse to Die, Publ. 2002, Seven Stories Press, New York. Koigi’s own account of his life and his activism. Koigi has just had another book published: Negative Ethnicity: From Bias To Genocide, Publ. 2003, Seven Stories Press, New York.
- www.speaktruth.org/defend/profiles/profile_34.asp A concise and useful summary of Koigi’s life up to 1997.
- www.worldsocialist-cwi.org/index2.html?/eng/2003/01/15kenya.html A more recent account, including Koigi’s election to the Kenyan parliament in 2002.
The following links are texts of speeches and interviews that Koigi has given, and make for some revealing and instructive reading.
- Comments on his struggle for human rights:
- A letter about freedom, dictators and governments:
www.mirrorimage.com/ai/about/inspiration/wamwere_letter.html - Comments on the challenges facing Kenya:
http://www.newsandletters.org/Issues/2003/March/Kenya_Mar03.htm - Maiden speech to Kenyan parliament:
www.nationaudio.com/News/DailyNation/21022003/News/News75.html - Comments on ‘quality of life’:
www.underdusken.no/dusker/html/9704/wamwere.html - Comments on America:
cornell-magazine.cornell.edu/Archive/2002sepoct/depts/Currents.html - Koigi is often in the news in Kenya. A prominent online source for Kenyan news is:
www.nationaudio.com/News/DailyNation/Today
