This Man Philip Wanjohi
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Not until you engage him do you realize he is not an
eccentric old man as some would have it. He has a sharp mind and a knack of
punctuating his talk with observations taken straight from some of books he has
familiarized himself with. Though he is not as strong as his old former self,
he believes his fist can pack a punch enough to dislocate the jaw of a donkey.
After all, he was a pugilist and represented the country within the African
continent thrice.
But Philip
Mainge Wanjohi, (pictured), who is in hie early seventies, is on a different mission. He has been agitating for
establishment of library services at ward levels. The man who has read over
2000 books cutting across all genres decries the lack of a reading culture
especially by the young generation. He says he was Member Number782 from 1980
to 1992 at the Kenya National Library Service, Nakuru, but distance and hard
economical times had conspired to keep him from frequenting the place.
The resident
of Bavuni village in Mugwathi sub-location in Bahati District, Nakuru County,
believes reading can have a positive effect as it can reduce idleness and a lack
of knowledge especially with the youth. Libraries, he says, "are granaries
of books that cover various topics ranging from history, geography, sciences,
philosophy, metaphysics and poetry."
The believer
in African tradition, especially polygamy, had two wives and six children. His
youngest wife died in 2002 and two of his children are deceased as well. His
first born by the first wife, a son, is currently 50 years old.
The
ex-member of the Nakuru Amateur Boxing Club was employed as a clerk by Kenya
Farmers Association (KFA) for a period of thirteen years. He claims to have
landed employment a day after sitting his East African Cambridge School
Certificate in 1968. And it was during his formal employment years that he was
active in the ring for a period of twelve years, leading what he calls the
'aesthetic lifestyle', which was mainly to please his senses or carefree
living. He did represent the country in international bouts in Zambia (twice)
in 1970 and in Tanzania in 1971 and lost on points. Most of his boxing career
was done locally against visiting teams, before he hang his gloves in 1970s while
at the bantamweight category.
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| Philip the boxer |
The last he
had a haircut was in 1972 while in Eldoret, and was proud sporting an afro hair
style, which today has receded exposing his scalp with the remaining hair now a
crown of whitish grey.
His
dalliance with books began in 1982 when he bought "Song of Lawino" by Okot p'Bitek for a princely Sh20. "I
subscribed for membership with Kenya National Library and began reading
assiduously at the rate of two books per week from that time," he says.
A poem
titled, "Man in Chains",
which he stumbled upon in the library, fired his imaginations at poetry that he
composed his own entitled "OAU No
More", and which ended up being read out in the then Voice of Kenya
(now KBC) radio. “Hearing my name and poem being read out was a crowning moment
for my efforts,” he says.
The beauty
of the rhymes, rhythm and style was to make him fall in love with poetry.
He began
writing poems prolifically most of which were published in The East African Standard and the defunct Kenya Times. "Unfortunately, my poems weren't paid for,"
he says.
And in
between penning poetry, he was writing letters to the editors in the Daily Nation, The East African Standard
and Kenyan Times getting noticed by
none other than one Prof Chris Wanjala. Writer Henry ole Kulet, whom he met and
worked with briefly in Nakuru, was running a publication going by name of 'The Rift Valley Business Guide' and
hired him as a staff reporter.
"I was
going along Oginga odinga Street in Nakuru one day when a man carrying a
briefcase stopped me and asked where the offices of the Rift Valley Business Guide were. I offered to take him and when he
asked for my name, I was surprised he knew me from my writings in the
media," he says.
Wanjala,
then the head of literature department at Egerton University, was to coach him
and fifteen others on basics of story writing. "He would drive from work
each evening and offer us free lectures for a period of three months at Prairie
Institute in Nakuru from 7p.m to 9p.m before driving some of us home in his
beaten up Volvo," he says. Three of the beneficiaries of this programme went on to become
published authors with Mr Wanjohi featuring prominently in Kenya Times and later in Taifa
Leo. He says sub-editors were his silent lecturers especially in correcting
the mistakes made and rephrasing places.
In 2007, he
and another friend began a 22 pages newspaper called the 'Subukia Digest'. This was in quest of preserving information for
posterity's sake as most residents of his home area relied on radios for
information. "I wanted to bring a culture of reading close to my door step
seeing how many of the residents were wallowing in information ignorance,"
he says.
Each of his
weekly A4 sized newspaper was selling at Sh20. Typesetting and printing would
be done at Catholic Bookshop in Nakuru town. The first edition was well
received. And it was during the 2007 election campaigns when a certain
legislator, (when Bahati constituency was part of the larger Subukia one),
approached and asked him to do a profile of him for campaign purposes and had
newspapers distributed at his political rallies.
"I
printed a hundred copies and I was assured I would get Sh2000 at the end of the
day. Nothing was forthcoming, and with that, the newspaper venture collapsed
when the politician ran away leaving me with nothing to sustain the business. I
was a reporter and an editor of it as well," he says.
He still has
not slowed down in writing. He has penned over one thousand poems, and he still
submits to online forums like Free Poetic Universe, Ugandan Foundation for
Writers, Abuja Writers Association, among other sites. His day begins at 3a.m
when he wakes to read and write. Among the many books that he says have shaped
him greatly is the Hindu’s Gita, Ideas and Opinions by Albert Einstein, Einstein Universe by Nigel Calder, Maisha ya Hatari by Henry ole Kulet, and
many by various writers on subjects of religion, psychology and metaphysics.
He is yet to
publish his three book manuscripts he says have been gathering dust for long.
They are in long hand, as he is yet to acquire either a desktop or laptop and
type them.
His quest
for establishment of libraries at ward levels is yet to bear fruits.
Sidebar
- In 1993, he
wrote a letter to the editor of the Daily Nation decrying the pollution of
environment with plastic bags. It was titled, “Plastic Bags Menace will be Our Undoing,”, and still keeps the
newspaper cutting to this day. He says he is proud that the ban on plastic
bags has been enforced.
- He loves
walking, and can trek to Nakuru town from his home village, which lies
15km east of town in Nakuru North District. It takes an average of two
hours one way trip.
- During the
enforcement of ‘Michuki rules’, he was in a matatu and none of passengers
had seat belts on. Traffic police directed the vehicle to be driven to
Central Police station, but the policemen, seeing his white crown of hair, saluted
him and let him go free as other passengers were fined Sh500 each.
- He is
always awake by 3a.m reading and writing. He writes an average of 2000
words before breakfast.
- He has
several unpublished manuscripts, but believes he can bequeath the country
a literary gem before he exits this world.
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