Abstract:
ABSTRACT
This research investigated the portrayal of the African politician in Kiswahili poetry.
Basically, this research intended to shed light on how different poets have portrayed
African politicians creatively with a purpose of revealing how these leaders have changed
since colonial times to the multi-party period. The research assumed that political leaders
played a great role in the development of their individual countries and Africa as a whole.
The attainment of various developmental goals such as Kenya’s Vision 2030 and
strengthening of the East African Community is to a large extent pegged on political
decisions. The objectives of this research were to investigate the role of Kiswahili poetry in
preserving the history of the African politician and to examine the traits of the pre-colonial
and post-colonial African politician according to Kiswahili poets. The researcher assumed
that the poet speaks for the citizen who gets adversely affected by decisions and actions
taken by politicians. The study was guided by Romanticism theory developed by William
Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Post-colonial Theory which is associated
with the works of Edward W. Said, Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak and Homi K. Bhabha. The
study was carried out in the library where purposive sampling method was used to collect
data from selected anthologies. Qualitative analysis of the selected poems was done guided
by the research objectives. The findings of this study revealed that Kiswahili poetry is an
important tool for preserving the history of Africa’s struggle for independence. The study
also revealed how the seemingly royal pre-independence African politician changed
drastically after independence was attained and became a tormentor of the very people he
had sworn to protect. Despite these shortcomings, it is evident that the African continent
has a few political role models whom the current and future politicians can emulate. The
findings of this research will benefit Kiswahili scholars, writers and all political
stakeholders in Africa and beyond.
