Shiraz Durrani
Ngugi wa Thiong’o passed on May 28, 2025. To honour his contribution to Kenya’s liberation, to
literature and to resistance publishing, Vita Books is reprinting his essay, Writing Against
Neocolonialism. This book was the first publication by Vita Books in 1986 – 39 years ago.
Ngugi is known more for his contribution to literature and language studies than for his involvement
in Kenya’s struggle for liberation, both underground and above ground, in Kenya and overseas. His
bio [1] too focuses on his writing and does not mention his political activism and his membership of the
underground December Twelve Movement (DTM) and Mwakenya where he played an important role
as its Spokesperson and inspiration. In exile in London, UK, he continued to play an important role in
the formation of Umoja and in bringing together its international Kenyan organisations.
Ngugi’s early writing was informed by his membership of DTM, as Mazrui and Mutunga [2] explain:
‘During our years in the organization [DTM], all intellectual/scholarly projects of individual
members of the organization – including Maina wa Kinyatti’s Thunder from the Mountains
and Ngugi wa Thiong’o’s Detained – were essentially projects of the movement [3].’
Equally, his theatre work with Ngugi wa Mirii at Kamirithu Community Educational and Cultural
Centre (KCECC), his writing and staging of The Trial of Dedan Kimathi with Micere Mugo, among
other activities, were part of his activism as a member of DTM. However, DTM’s role in his
development and work is overshadowed by his books and writings, as is his role in DTM, Mwakenya
and Umoja. This is not difficult to understand. Imperialism always de-politicises people’s resistance.
Ngugi the writer is acceptable; Ngugi the resistance fighter is not. That is why his writing is known
globally, but his resistance activities remain invisible. Nor has any Kenyan research or academic
organisation documented the history of Ngugi the rebel, Ngugi the resistance fighter and activist. One
hopes that future historians and activists will fill this important gap in recording Ngugi’s contribution
to the liberation of Kenya.
Ngugi’s part in the establishment of Vita Books has also not yet been recognised. This Introduction
aims to rectify this shortcoming on our part. Vita Books has grown from a very small beginning in
1986 to become one of the most important – perhaps the only – Left publisher in Kenya today.
In order to understand how and why Vita Book started, we need to travel back in time to the early
1980s to London, UK. Ngugi came here in exile in 1982; Shiraz Durrani followed him into exile in
1984 and Naila Durrani in 1986. Nothing remarkable about this except that all three were members of
the underground December Twelve Movement and had taken an active part in DTM’s underground
and overground activities. What was unique about DTM membership is the ideological clarity,
discipline and commitment to action and resistance that were created and honed in its strict cell
structures. Being active in Kenya under the harsh Moi government hardened DTM members. It is this
quality that the three brought to London. Before 1986, Ngugi had been active in London in various
activities: in the Committee for the Release of Prisoners in Kenya, in the production of Kenyan plays,
disseminating information about the situation in Kenya and related activities in conjunction with
progressive people, Kenyans and non-Kenyans. What was missing was a disciplined and militant organisation of Kenyans that alone could channel political energies into political action and impact.
The three DTM members soon addressed this need by forming the first DTM cell in London.
The London cell meetings took place at Ngugi’s Islington flat and at the Neasden and Tottenham
residence of the Durrani family. Their various political activities as a DTM cell is outside the remit of
this Introduction. The point of interest is that once the main political programme had been set up, the
cell started addressing other issues that needed resolution. The first one was the need for appropriate
information policy to enable the voice of Kenya resistance to reach Kenyans. The discussion ended
with a decision to form a small publishing house. Ngugi cited the example of the Red Sea Press in the
USA formed by the Eritrean community, which was active both in politics and publishing. A long
discussion on the name and vision of the new publishing house followed and one of us came up with
the name Vita Books, from the Kiswahili word, vita, symbolising the liberation struggle that had to be
waged. It was understood, however that Vita Books was not part of any political organisation but
would remain an independent publishing house under Shiraz and Naila.
Ngugi offered further assistance to get Vita Books off the ground. He arranged for initial funding from
a friendly organisation. These were used for the first publications, as well as for some Umoja
documents. He further offered his essay, Writing Against Imperialism as a way to launch Vita Books
with an impact that his name carried. The rest is history!
Vita Books’ first Publications List carried an illustration of Kimaathi, drawn by a progressive designer
and printer, Rahim, who also designed and printed the first books. He designed and printed also the
three posters of Kimaathi, Field Marshal Muthoni and an unknown resistance fighter from North
Kenya. The first poster of Kimaathi, bore his own words, ‘It is better to die on our feet than to live on
our knees’; The third one had as its slogan, ‘No rights are achieved without raising the arm in
struggle’ – appropriate messages for Kenya resistance.
The second book by Vita Books was by Shiraz Durrani, Kimaathi, Mau Mau’s First Prime Minister of
Kenya. It was Ngugi’s suggestion to use that spelling for Kimaathi as the correct version. This was
published at the same time as Ngugi’s Writing Against Neocolonialism and was expanded into a much
longer book as Kenya’s War of Independence, published by Vita Books in Nairobi in 2018.
Most of the other books mentioned in the Publications List have been published over the years. The
book, Pio Gama Pinto was also published in the same year, 2018. Thunder From the Mountains was
published by the Mau Mau Research Centre with whom Vita Books had a joint publishing agreement
for some years. Publishing and Imperialism in Kenya came out in 2006 as Never Be Silent, for which
Ngugi wrote the Introduction. Tunakataa! will be published by Vita Books in 2025.
Thus, the initial publication programme created in 1986 has been rolled out over the years. Vita Books
came home to Nairobi in 2017 and has produced some key titles on Kenya. None of this would have
happened without the initial input from Ngugi wa Thiong’o. The reprint of his essay Writing Against
Neocolonialism in 2025, with this Introduction to Ngugi’s political contribution, is as significant a
milestone as was its initial publication by Vita Books in 1986.
A Family Connection
Aziz and Jaamit, the two youngest members of the family, supported Vita Books in various ways:
administration and stock work and staffing the Vita Books stalls at the International Book Fair of
Radical Black and Third World Books over many years. Aziz interviewed Ngugi on December 19,
1990, for Kamukunji Vijana a proposed publication by Umoja which was not published in the end;
Jaamit interviewed Ngugi and recorded it on a tape recorder.
[1] Ngugi wa Thiong’o Foundation: Ngugi wa Thiong’o: Advocating for African Languages. Available at:
https://www.ngugiwathiongofoundation.org/bio (accessed: 6 June 2025).
[2] Mazrui, Ali and Willy Mutunga, Unpublished comments following the launch of Maina wa Kinyatti’s book, Mwakenya: The Unfinished Revolution, African Books Collective, Oxford, 2014.
[3] The Movement referred to here is December Twelve Movement.