Ken Walibora: Life and times of renowned author

The news about the death of the renowned Kiswahili author Ken Walibora shocked many followers of his work

His body was traced at the Kenyatta National Hospital mortuary on Wednesday following an accident last Friday in which the author was ran over by a matatu on Landhies Road in Nairobi.

Walibora’s background

Ken Walibora was born on January 6, 1965 in Baraki, Bungoma county.

His family later on moved to Kitale before settling in Cherangany.

Walibora’s mother, Ruth Makali, died in 1984 at the age of 51 when Walibora was 20 years old.

Education 

Walibora studied at St Joseph Primary School.

He then went to Teremi, Suremi secondary schools, before proceeding to Ole kajiado High School for his O Levels and later Koelel for his A Levels. 

The writer was enrolled at the University of Nairobi in 2004 where he pursued a Bachelor of Arts in Literature and Swahili studies and graduated with a first class honours.

He later joined Ohio University in the US for a Masters degree and was a lecturer for four years at Wisconsin Madison University.

Books

Walibora was one of the most prolific authors in the country with more than 40 titles to his name.

The most famous title was Siku Njema, a secondary school set book between 1997 and 2003.

The novel was published in 1996 and saw Walibora become an instant household name in Swahili fiction.

Siku Njema is a book which is about the life of a young man, Msanifu Kombo who is born in Tanga, Tanzania and who faces family hardships with his single mother, who is a talented singer of Taarab.

Being a child born out of wedlock does not make life easier for him as he is chided by his schoolmates in a culture that frowns upon children born out of wedlock.

Walibora also wrote Kidagaa Kimemwozea which was used as a secondary school set book in 2013.

Other books written by him include Kufa Kuzikana, Tuzo, Ndoto ya Almasi, Damu Nyeusi, Ndoto Ya Amerika.

Career

Walibora  worked at the Nation Media Group between 1999 and 2004 as a TV and radio Swahili news anchor.

Bewtween 1996 and 1999, he was a Swahili news anchor at KBC a well as a news editor.

He had also worked at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as a probation officer between 1985 and 1986.

Walibora was also a Swahili and English teacher in secondary school.

The author also worked as a lecturer at Riara University.