Page 57 - Msingi Afrika Magazine Issue 27 Final
P. 57
Community
prepared by a five-member complicated since the
commission headed by the Commission set out to
then Kenya Music Adviser, provide words in Swahili
Mr. Graham Hyslop, with and English. The tune
Mr. G. W. Senoga-Zake, also had to lend itself to
Mr. Thomas Kalume, Mr. appropriate harmonization
Peter Kibukosya and Mr. and orchestration for
Washington Omondi as performance by a military
members. band, without impairing
the original tonality of the Mūkūrwe-inī, Nyeri, Kenya
Author and administrator of Gĩkũyũ Centre for
This method of preparing melody. Cultural Studies, Kĩgongona kĩa Ũũgĩ wa Bũrũri Witũ.
a national anthem was A modern Gĩkũyũ Shaman and Priest after the
completely new in Africa. It While in Uganda and Nigeria order of Melchizedek. A Mũnjirũ wa
Mbarĩ ya Kĩragũ.
was the first time a group of the composition of their Email: muiniwagicandi@gmail.com
local musicians were given National anthem had been
the task of preparing an opened to public competition national anthem.”
anthem for consideration by the Kenyatta Cabinet had
the Government. decided to take another route.
In the first few weeks, Mboya
found that it was becoming
In presenting the anthem, the It was Minister for hard to reach a consensus on
commission noted that it had Constitutional Affairs Tom a suitable national anthem.
to reflect the idioms of the Mboya, who advised the He told the Cabinet in a new
traditional music of Kenya. Cabinet to shelve plans for a brief that they should not open
As such, many tunes from national competition for two the anthem to competition
various parts of the country reasons. The first, according because of the risk that it
were considered, and it was to Cabinet records, the whites might be won by a European.
by no means easy to find might enter the competition
those which would fulfil and win! And lastly, there “I understand that in Nigeria
all the demands made in was no time. Mboya, then two separate competitions
the context of their use as a only 33, had been picked were held, each of which
National Anthem. to head the ministerial sub- provided very substantial
committee to coordinate
The tune had to be of the Independence celebrations. prizes for words and for the
music separately. In the event
right length and quality, yet In the beginning, he was the competition for the words
possessing the necessary asked by the Cabinet to set was won by a European
dignity. It had to be of such up a committee of musical secretary employed in
character as to make the experts “to consider the form Kampala and for the music by
writing of suitable words and method of organizing an English woman who had
manageable and this was a public competition for a
ISSUE 27 | MAY 2024 57
