Kakwenza Rukirabashaija is the Uganda’s Francis Imbuga
By Drone Staff Writer
Kakwenza Rukirabashaija is likened to Kenyan writer, Francis D. Imbuga; who authored the play Betrayal in the City.
The play addresses contemporary issues such as corruption, dictatorship, betrayal, nepotism and impunity that are characteristic of many African independent states.
This gentleman, Kakwenza Rukirabashaija is a humble, humorous and ever smart author; his crime today is that he authored The Greedy Barbarian. He reportedly went missing on Tuesday from his home in Iganga. He is said to have been picked up by security agents, allegedly, for ‘cyber harassment.’
The truth is that cyber harassment is sedition by another name; but authorities twist it to their benefits.
Sources tell The Drone Media that Kakwenza Rukirabashaija is being held at Mbuya Military Barracks. If so, it means the alleged cyber harassment is nothing but his book, The Greedy Barbarian.
In his review of the book as printed on the back cover, Jimmy Spire Ssentongo says “… the novel is bound for a bang.”
“I get the feeling that the arrest is the figurative bang here. Not that the book is grim or harassing as alleged,” says Odongo, a journalist.
A source tells The Drone Media, “Kakwenza gifted me a copy of the book in February. After 32 pages of the 130-page fiction, I had to place it down for about a week as some kyeyo from Kigali kept me too busy to read. When I returned to it, I decided to start afresh because this guy’s choice of names are not easy. Kagurutsi, Kayibanda, Rukundakanuzire, Baryabusha… I couldn’t place the names to the characters without reading afresh.”
THE PLOT OF BOOK
The book is set in two fictitious neighbouring countries; for an ordinary reader, these countries seem to be Rwanda and Uganda. This is cemented by the choice of names Kakwenza used.
An account of Kayibanda, a boy who partly raises himself up because his mother (Bekunda) is too busy to, until she meets with the boy’s step-father and their saviour Kagurutsi after fleeing their native country. Kagurutsi tries so much to straighten up the already bent twig in Kayibanda that appears to have dried young. No success.
Kayibanda is mischief personified, the antagonist within a protagonist. His actions keep you wondering what more mischief he will conjure up. You want to see if he will become a good boy or die for his ways. But he somehow lives the volume of the novel that dramatically takes up political undertones when Kayibanda is forced by circumstances to become a politician and goes on to wrestle state control.
It is from this point that the personification of Kayibanda is crystalised. It is clear this is a Kinyarwanda name.
The Greedy Barbarian is bold, sarcastic and, indeed, a bang! The portrayal of many native African cultural practices such as witch craft and wizardry is quite spellbinding. It is no different from other political writers, but he chose to be direct and narrate a story known to most Ugandans.