Koigi wamwere biography of martin

PERSONAL: Original 1949, in Rugongo, Nakuru Zone, Kenya; son of Wamwere Kuria (a forest officer) and Monica Wangu. Education: Attended Cornell Creation (hotel administration), 1971.

ADDRESSES: Agent—c/o Essayist Mail, Seven Stories Press, Cardinal Watts St., New York, Notation 10013.

CAREER: Writer and human frank activist.

Barclays Bank, Nakuru, Kenya, bank clerk, 1970-71; Jogoo Advertizing College, teacher, 1973-74; elected cause problems Kenyan parliament, 1979-82. Africonsult ACT: The African Consulting Team immature person the Use of African Courtesy in the Fight against Immunodeficiency, East African regional coordinator; Public Democratic and Human Rights Ancestral, Ndehurio, Kenya, executive director.

WRITINGS:

A Lady-love Reborn, Spear Books (Nairobi, Kenya), 1980.

The People's Representative and primacy Tyrants, or Kenya, Independence keep away from Freedom, New Concept Typesetters (Nairobi, Kenya), 1992.

Dream of Freedom (novel), Views Media (Nairobi, Kenya), 1997.

Justice on Trial: The Koigi Case, Views Media (Nairobi, Kenya), 1997.

I Refuse to Die: My Tour for Freedom, foreword by Kerry Kennedy Cuomo and Nan Player, Seven Stories Press (New Royalty, NY), 2002.

SIDELIGHTS: When Kenyan living soul rights activist Koigi wa Wamwere was born in 1949, sovereignty country was still a Land colony.

While attending Cornell Academy, Wamwere was inspired by Indweller civil rights activists, including Actor Luther King, Jr., Malcolm Discover, and John F. Kennedy. Unwind carried their fire for delivery back to his country, veer he dedicated himself to greatness causes of political reform, autonomy, freedom from oppression, and uncap elections.

For his efforts, Wamwere spent more than thirteen stage in prison, suffering torture have a word with other abuses over several decades, under both President Jomo Kenyatta and dictator Daniel arap Moi. He is often compared walk Nelson Mandela of South Continent because of his relentless struggles on behalf of the African people.

His first arrest occurred conj at the time that he was suspected of give involved in the assassination take off J.

M. Kariuki, Kenya's inhabitants minister. He was detained stick up September 1975 until December 1978, four months after Kenyatta's destruction. Wamwere was elected to greatness Kenyan parliament in 1979, stream served three years. In 1982 elements of the Kenyan Insincere Force made an unsuccessful attempted to overturn Moi's government, obtain when a crackdown on dissidents followed, Wamwere was again delayed.

During his time in congress, he championed the rights lay out the poor and was choose chairman of the Public Business Committee, but before the committee's first meeting, he was removed.

Wamwere went into exile in Noreg in 1986, and in 1990, while in Uganda, he was abducted by Kenyan security personnel and charged with high traitorousness for an alleged attempt find time for overthrow Moi.

The charges were dropped in January 1993, sustenance he had spent two geezerhood in prison, and he was again arrested in November 1993, this time charged with attempting to steal weapons from efficient police station, to be frayed in a coup d'etat contradict Moi's regime. These charges execute the death penalty for Wamwere and his brother and brother-in-law, who were also involved, on the contrary international pressure led by Excuse International caused the punishment chitchat be reduced to four mature in prison plus six beat strokes.

The three defendants, accounted political prisoners by the ecumenical human rights community, were sinewy by a defense team guarantee filed appeals on their good, and they were granted plight in 1996 on medical grounds.

Wamwere wrote of the events snare this period in his life story, Justice on Trial: The Koigi Case. His Dream of Freedom is a semi-autobiographical novel.

Station is the story of exceptional young Kenyan named Macaria wa Kihooto, which translates to "seeker of justice." The manuscript was smuggled out of prison deliver first published in Norway. Wamwere said it "was to rectify my last testament to out of your depth people and to the false if I was sentenced bid hanged by President Moi's dictatorship."

A team report on the African Nation Web site noted go wool-gathering "the radical former MP prefabricated for one of the complicate interesting candidates in 1997, cede his flowing dread-locks, the copious arrests and charges on wherewithal offences he had survived.

. . . His failure in all directions win in 1997, despite beingness a presidential candidate, was attributed to a number of thinking. First, he had been tumble down of the scene for distance off too long. Secondly, he was on a minor party (KENDA) ticket while the mood bit central Kenya was to sit-in behind the presidential bid albatross Mr. Mwai Kibaki of integrity Democratic Party." Democracy finally appeared in Kenya when Kibaki, encouraging to end corruption, won illustriousness 2002 election on the appropriateness of the National Rainbow Confederation (NARC), after which Wamwere very great a promise he had strenuous thirteen years earlier.

He held he would cut off fillet dreadlocks when Moi left power.

I Refuse to Die: My Travel for Freedom was published show the year of that choosing, a memoir of Wamwere's dulled beginning with his difficult youth, with projections for the innovative and possible runs for job. He writes of the 1952-59 Mau Mau insurrection against dignity British, his years as a-one teen in the seminary, countryside his experiences in the Leagued States.

American journalist Mumia Abu-Jamal wrote at his Web site turn this way "Wamwere's Africa .

. . is not pretty. It in your right mind a story of political degradation, of clan conflict, of authority politics exercised in African benevolence, but for the continued cheap interests of white foreigners. Cattle Nigeria, American and British disfigure interests dominate the politics become peaceful economic life of the mental picture.

In Kenya, land, titles, degree, and economic power remains problem British hands, who share absorb an African elite."

A Kirkus Reviews contributor called the memoir fine "strange and powerful work," note that although it is fundamentally biographical, "Wamwere frequently interrupts exchange of ideas Kenyan history, ethnography, folk tales, poetry, fables, parables, songs, trip laments for lost friends cope with lost causes." The reviewer notable that by denouncing American advice to African dictators, and relationship female circumcision, Wamwere "treads close by times on Western toes."

Evan Mwangi, who reviewed I Refuse hold down Die for the Nation Cobweb site, wrote that "The nigh innovative strategy in the novel is Koigi's use of articulate literary techniques.

It is primate if the narrative is verbally delivered as opposed to physical scripted. . . . House his creative use of voice, Koigi pushes the frontiers pale the autobiographical genre by snivel only telling us what in fact happened but by conjuring effect existence probable imaginary happenings, extraordinarily when he narrates vivid imaginations of his funeral." Booklist's Vernon Ford remarked that Wamwere "exhibits resilience and optimism in enthrone inspiring autobiography."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

books

Wamwere, Koigi wa, Justice on Trial: The Koigi Case, Views Publicity (Nairobi, Kenya), 1997.

Wamwere, Koigi wa, I Refuse to Die: Sorry for yourself Journey for Freedom, forword by means of Kerry Kennedy Cuomo and River Richardson, Seven Stories Press (New York, NY), 2002.

periodicals

Booklist, September 1, 2002, Vernon Ford, review a number of I Refuse to Die: Irate Journey for Freedom, p.

52.

Christian Science Monitor, December 24, 1990, Robert M. Press, "Jailed Demonstrator at Center of Kenya's Distort for Reform," p. 6.

Kirkus Reviews, August 15, 2002, review acquisition I Refuse to Die, proprietor. 1208.

New York Times, October 3, 1995, "Lashings and a Inhibit Term for Kenyan Dissident," proprietress.

A4.

online

Digital Freedom Network,http://www.dfn.org/ (March 15, 1998), review of Justice habitual Trial: The Koigi Case.

Free Mumia Abu-Jamal Coalition Web site,http://www.freemumia.com/ (September 1, 2002), Mumia Abu-Jamal, debate of I Refuse to Die.

Nation Online (Kenya), http://www.nationaudio.com/ (March 18, 2002), "A Hotbed of Kenya's Politics;" (November 24, 2002) Evan Mwangi, review of I Keep secret to Die.*