Hard Tackle and the Illusions of Literary Fame

            In the Luo community there is a saying Jaote ok go lero (A messenger is not stoned). One is supposed to confront the message being disseminated by the messenger and not the other way round. However, in a new world order where false messengers masquerade as the sole purveyors of truth; it is essential to name and shame those messengers before they wreck further havoc. Hard Tackle: The Life of Uhuru Kenyatta by Irungu Thatiah is a case of a jaote (messenger) eager to twist and hide the truth thus fooling gullible readers such as Gordon Opiyo recently writing in The Nairobian. 

In fact, Irungu is now ‘The lizard that jumped from the high iroko tree to the ground (and) said he would praise himself if no one else did’ in Achebe’s Things Fall Apart. In his defence still in the same paper, he cites the number of biographies/ autobiographies he has written as if it is a justification for penning a bad biography now on sale.  He further adds that his book is on the reading list of University of Nairobi while forgetting that his book is a perfect example of how not to write a biography as earlier observed by Samora Mwaura.

            But I am getting ahead of myself. It is important to accord the writer credit for two critical aspects about the book. First, his business sense in marketing the book at an affordable price of sh 299 (It’s actually 300 bob). The business foresight as observed by Samora is something totally missing in the local literary scene. Among the reasons fronted by most Kenyans is that ‘Kenyan books are hard to come by.’ And if one finds the books, the price is quite exorbitant. As Irungu himself noted, he ‘circumvented the myriad taxes and overheads and logistical nightmares to get [the] book to an eager reading population.’ Kenyan writers and especially publishers have a lot to learn from the brilliant marketing strategy that has got him raking millions from his book.  His partnership with newspaper vendors has ensured that the book is readily available for anyone interested in getting a glimpse of the President’s life. 

            Second, Irungu has set a precedent for those interested in penning the lives of politicians without permission. In countries such as America and UK, writing of unauthorized biographies is the norm. Unauthorized biographies fill the gap left by political leaders reluctant to write down their stories. In a country such as ours where politicians are willing to die with massive secrets without even commissioning ghost-writers to at least shed a few truths about their shady lives and deals, he takes the cake. 

            Hard Tackle, however, has several shortcomings that does not qualify it as a biography, but, instead, a propaganda piece. Hear him on page 6 ‘The paradox of this character would start to unveil…when he gave…the most resounding presidential speech heard in Africa yet since Kwame Nkrumah.’ After co-opting the media in the ‘Peace’ narrative that ensured no questions were asked, the President-elect would laud the Kenyan media for their ‘silence’ something Irungu does not find baffling and ridiculous.

 And on Odinga, Uhuru’s arch-rival in the March 2013 elections, he writes on page 8 ‘The speech was not news. It was laced with ‘tainted elections’, ‘reformist credentials’, ‘rigging’, ‘the rule of law’, the usual fare. Democracy On Trial, it was called.’ He refers to President Moi (Uhuru’s mentor) as ‘The Professor of Politics’ a record five times successively. If that is not blind hero-worship, how then shall we call it?

            On page 83, Irungu gets so excited that he forget the basic tenet of retaining his objective stance of presenting his subject as a human rather than a superhuman. That’s what he calls a book restricting ‘itself to only one particular aspect of the subject’s lives.’ Something he totally does not adhere to. 

He observes: ‘Characteristic of Uhuru Kenyatta, he did not complain – he did not even allege unfairness or cast aspersions. It’s still a subject of analysis in governance discourses that if history will judge Uhuru Kenyatta, perhaps this speech will bare him out as having a spark of greatness – because conceding defeat graciously takes not only a big heart and courage, but also generosity and goodwill.’

            And to cover his shallow research skills, he simply dismisses grave issues with the wave of a hand. He leaves the interpretation of truth to the ‘tribe the reader belongs.’ The conclusions are not different from the usual brouhaha one is likely to read in the social media and propaganda blogs that now litter our cyberspace. So it got me laughing when Gordon Opiyo confessed (though I found it embarrassingly naïve for a media consultant) that he discovered from Hard Tackle that ‘Uhuru worked as a simple bank teller in KCB’s Kipande House Branch.’ Wikipedia has that information for free.    

            As the nation skids towards the 2007 Armageddon, Uhuru Kenyatta once again emerges as the guardian angel. Irungu writes on page 139 ‘…Uhuru Kenyatta was on record as one of the few leaders who had asked the two warring political camps in the country to speak to each other.’ On the flipside, the writer fails to exploit the allegations levelled by ICC that his subject may have participated in the murder, persecution and forcible transfer of a population thus breaching various articles of the Rome Statute. 

The work of a biographer goes beyond scratching the surface for truth. When a biographer resorts to distorting and hiding information the reader deserves to know, it means that biographer has failed in his task. Irungu Thatiah is a false messenger-cum-businessman, and not a writer. He can, therefore, dupe readers such as Opiyo who lavishes it as ‘a book based on deep research.’