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Stupid Hares and Margarine:

Early Swahili Comics

By Jigal Beez, University of Bayreuth, Germany

To be published in: John Lent (ed): Cartooning in Africa, Cresskill: Hampton Press.

• Paperback: 304 pages

• Publisher: Hampton Pr (December 30, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1572735546

That comics are a global phenomenon is an odd statement these days. In nearly all corners of
this planet comics are drawn, printed and read (Lent, 1996, Knigge, 1996). But African
comics remained unnoticed for many years. One example of this neglect is a statement by
Vitorio Lanternari, an anthropologist who wrote the Africa chapter of an article on Comic Art
and Caricature in the famous Encyclopaedia of Word Arts. He summarized: “Caricature and
humour are generally absent from primitive art.” (Lanternari, 1970: 774). It was common
sense among Western academics of the 1960s that African art had to be primitive, hence void
of caricature, humour and of course comics. That Africa is not only a supplier of primitive art
but has a vivid comic culture as well, is common knowledge nowadays. Some light on the
East African comic scene had been shed by Gikonyo (1986), Graebner (1995), Beck (1999),
Packalén (2001) Beez (2003, 2004), Obonyo (2004) and Beez and Kolbusa (2003) as well as
by some websites that are dedicated to East African comics like Bongotoons or Worldcomics
or published by the artists themselves 1 . But whereas Western comic traditions claim the roots
of the genre in graphic literature to be as old as the 15th century (Cuccolini, 2002: 65, Kunzle,
1973) and the actual birth of the comic strip with “Yellow Kid” in 1895 (Harvey, 1994: 4ff.),
for East Africa there has been little known about comics about the time before the 1980s. This
article intends to give an idea how early Swahili comics looked like. Most research on early
Swahili Comics which has been published so far relied on the memory of comic artists. Just
like all forms of oral history it is not peculiarly accurate but often serves to establish a certain
tradition in which the orators take a significant position. 2
But there are more reasons for the neglect of the Swahili comic history besides uncertain oral
sources. One important one is that comics were not fit to be a research topic for serious
scientists. Neither East Africans nor foreign researchers took comics, especially African ones
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serious. It seemed to be more appropriate for a scientific career to analyse Swahili novels
which were only read by a handful than to take a look at comics which are admired by
millions.
Another reason is that it is difficult to do research on comic history, because libraries do not
collect comics and rarely the popular journals in which they appear. Moreover the newspaper
archives of East African libraries are often in a state of confusion with volumes missing or
having been eaten by insects. There are also inadequate means of conservation for the poor
quality paper on which most popular publications were printed. Therefore, the data presented
in this article is only a sketch, as for sure, there are other journals and newspapers containing
Swahili comics which could not be traced yet. According to Whiteley in the 1950s, there were
forty newspapers in regular circulation in Tanganyika Territory alone and in Kenya there are
said to have been even more periodicals (Whiteley, 1969: 62, 67), a vast source for potential
comics. But only a few of them have been preserved in archives. I had the chance to have a
look at 27 different colonial newspapers and magazines, though not all contained comics. The
libraries which I had the chance to consult are the Macmillan Library in Nairobi, the Kenyan
National Archives in Nairobi and the East Africana Collection of the Library of the University
of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania and I thank the staff of these institutions, who searched dusty
shelves for me.

What are Swahili Comics?

But before tracing Swahili comics the question arises: What is a Swahili comic – what is
Swahili and what is a comic? Concerning comics various people have come up with different
definitions. Some call comics a hybrid medium, a “bastard on paper“, in which text and
picture complement each other (Cuccolini, 2002: 67). A point supported by Harvey, who calls
the “visual-verbal blend principle … the first principle” (Harvey, 1994: 10) in the analysis of
comics. Others put more emphasis on the sequence of pictures that narrates a story like Eisner
who calls comics “sequential art” (Eisner, 1990) or McCloud who defines comics as
“juxtaposed pictorial and other images in deliberate sequence, intended to convey information
and/or produce an aesthetic response in the viewer” (McCloud, 1993: 9).
However more problematic is the question, what Swahili is. There are those who support the
classical image of the Swahili as the urban Islamic merchant population which acted as an
intermediate between the population of the East African hinterland and foreign traders who
arrived at the East African coast (Middleton, 1992). Today this definition seems to be
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obsolete as Swahili is spread all over East Africa and many people acquired it as mother
tongue without having any connection to the old trading folk (also see Askew, 2003: 54, 65,
80). If we know what comics are and who Swahili are, do we know what Swahili comics are?
Definitely, they have to use the Swahili language, but what about the artist? Does he or she
have to be a Swahili or an African? Is any comic written in Swahili a Swahili comic, even if it
has been translated into Swahili from a foreign language? The answer seems to be no. For
examples many bible comics which are used by missionaries are simply translation without
any cultural adoption of the setting or explanations for an East African audience. Nevertheless
for this article I have considered all comics which use the Swahili language to be a Swahili
comic, though I am aware of the shortcomings of this approach. But it is often difficult to find
out whether the artist is an African or not. Often the comics are not signed by the artist.
Moreover when they are signed the name alone does not indicate the origin of the artist as an
African may choose an English pseudonym or vice versa.

Comics in Advertisement

The earliest example of the use of Swahili words and drawings which could be found was an
advertisement for tea, which appeared in the August 1940 issue of Rafiki Yetu (see Figure 1),
a catholic journal for the Kenya Colony. 3 The same series advertisements started in the
September 1940 issue of Mambo Leo a Swahili monthly journal published by the
administration of the Tanganyika Territory and on sale since 1928 (Whiteley, 1969: 63).
These advertisements endorsed the consumption of tea as a healthy beverage at any time.
Under the headline “CHAI inakupa nguvu” (Tea gives you strength), four panels tell the story
how tea cheers up your husband after work, how it helps your sleepy brother to get out of bed
in the morning or how your hardworking wife gains new strength after doing the laundry.
Although no speech-balloons are used in this comic, the visual-verbal principle is obvious.
The speech is situated above the persons within the panels. The story differs from
advertisement to advertisement but the fifth unframed picture always displays a happy family
drinking tea with the bold slogan “KUNWA (sic!) chai upata (sic!) nguvu” (Drink tea and you
will get strength). This comic is not signed so it is not possible to tell, who the artist was. But
it seems to be obvious that it was not somebody with a proper command of Swahili as the
slogan contained two spelling mistakes. The Swahili word for to drink is kunywa and not
kunwa. The second mistake of the second person singular subjunctive form of -pata (to get)
which is upate and not upata was corrected from the fourth advertisement onwards.
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Insert FIGURE1: Tea Advertisement Comic in Rafiki Yetu 1940

That the earliest Swahili comic, which could be traced so far, is a commercial comic for
advertisement is significant for the beginning of the Swahili comic genre. In the 1950s and
1960s many companies endorsed their products via comics. In most popular Swahili journals
and newspapers commercial comics appeared. Usually they promote the product within an
African environment and with African heroes. An exception is Hamam Soap which used
Indian ladies and Swahili text to endorse their beauty product (Tazama 18.01.1955) hence
creating a funny hybrid which was obviously not appreciated by the African target group, as
Indians are not very popular in East Africa. But the Hamam PR department learned and later
African ladies appeared in the adverts (Baragumu 06.09.1956). The African context does
however not mean a specific Swahili context. For example the promotional comics of Blue
Band margarine were published in Swahili in the Kenyan paper Taifa but also in Luganda in
the Ugandan sister paper Taifa Empya. The hero of the Blue Band adverts is the boy Juma
who prevents a train disaster (Tazama 1960) (see Figure 2), fights cattle thieves (Taifa Empya
22.08.1964) or kills a cobra that is about to eat a baby (Nyota 03/1964). These comics seem to
be the result of a brainstorm from European PR agents as they display prejudiced images of
Africa as a dark continent full of dangers in which a boy strengthened by Blue Band
margarine can become a hero.

Insert FIGURE2: Margarine advertisement comic in Tazama 1960.

Another commercial comic which exploits the images of dangerous wild Africa is the
advertisement for Eveready batteries in which a boy survives adventures. Here the Eveready
batteries put in the torch of the herding boy gave such a bright light that enabled the raiding
leopard to be hunted down (Taifa 1969). But there are also other examples of advertisement
comics which tell the reader, supposedly the modern African of the 1950s and 1960s, how to
succeed in life. In various comics, Singer sewing machines were propagated as the basis of
making a fortune. By investing in a Singer, the buyer would start a flourishing tailoring
business (Taifa 1969, Baragumu 08.12.1957, Baragumu 1959). Also, commercial banks like
Barclays (Tazama 1955) and Standard (Nyota 03/1964) promised riches to the readers of their
comics. In fact, the early Barclays adverts have similarities with the awareness campaigns of
present day microfinance development projects, as they both appeal to the readers not to hide
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their money in the pillow or mattress, where it will be stolen, but to bring it to the bank, where
the interest rates would even make your money grow. Another comic story narrates the way a
clever guy managed to buy a bicycle – a great achievement in those days - after just a few
months of bank savings. Bears’ Honeydew Cigarettes comics (Tazama 05.01.1955) tell the
tales of the sportsman “Tomasi Tembo” (Thomas Elephant), who is named after the elephant
that is displayed on the cigarette packet. “Tomasi Tembo” wins bicycle races in spite of a
sliding chain, knocks out his opponent in heavy weight boxing and of course scores the last
minute winning goal for his soccer team and explains his success by the fact that he only
smokes Honeydrew cigarettes.
There are also many other products which were endorsed by Swahili comics. In the Kenyan
Tazama 4 Journal of 1955 which had a circulation of around 17,000 (Whiteley, 1969: 67) and
was distributed throughout East Africa there are examples for Timex watches, Burnol
Antiseptic Creme, Palodrine anti malaria pills and Royal baking powder. The weekly paper
Baragumu which appeared in the Tanganyika Territory had furthermore in its 1956 editions
comic advertisements for: Antepa anti worm medicine, Simba Brooke Bond Tea and Rexpel
anti worm medicine. And the Kenyan weekly Baraza ran comics for Michelin tyres in 1953 as
well as for Phensic painkillers, Cadbury’s chocolate, Surf soap, Life Guard soap, Nucycle
bicycle polish and Calgas cooking gas. These are just a few examples to demonstrate the
range of products that used Swahili comics for their promotion. From the 1970s onwards
however the use of comics for the promotion of commercial products has declined as the
advertising industry started using other formats to sell their clients ideas.

Early funnies

Besides commercial comics there are also various examples of Swahili funnies though the
earliest example which could be traced appeared eleven years after the tea promotion comics.
The October 1951 issue of Mambo Leo introduces “picha za kuchekesha” (pictures which
make you laugh), a regular feature strip with a little introduction to its readers:
Mwezi huu tunaanza picha za kuchekesha , na tunatumaini kuwapa wasomaji wetu picha
namna hizi kila mwezi. Kwa kukosea picha za mwezi huu zimepigwa chapa ndogo – miezi
mingine tutazikuza. (This month we start humorous pictures and we hope to give our readers
pictures of this kind every month. By mistake the pictures of this month have been printed in
small size – we will enlarge them in the months.)

This first strip does not have a title but it is signed with C.S.S., probably the acronym of the
artist who could not be identified closer and the year of its publication. This first strip is a
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sequence of five square panels which narrate the story of a guy, Bwana Ali, showing off with
his bicycle and carrying two ladies, Bibi Fatuma and Bibi Chausiku, one sitting on the rear
carrier, the other one sitting on the front carrier. They all fall down and Bwana Ali complains
that his beautiful bike got broken, without caring about the injured ladies. The dialogue is not
written in speech balloons but underneath each panel. That this first strip was printed in a
small size is explained by the fact that it consists of five panels. Its successors have only four
panels. As there was a clearly defined spacing for these funny pictures in the journal, each of
the panels could be printed in bigger size than the five panels of the maiden strip. These strips
also had a capture explaining the content of the strip like Mtu aliyejaribu kuua tembo na
mkuki (Someone trying to kill an elephant with a spear) (Mambo Leo December 1951) or
vijana huweza kuchunga au kuwa askari wa mflame (youths can do herding or become a royal
soldier) (Mambo Leo November 1952). These strips had everyday colonial life as topic.
Although they quite often made fun out of the European colonial masters, like their inability
to distinguish an egg from a golf ball (January 1953) or their incapability to hit a nail properly
(July 1952), they perpetuated the image of Europeans in superior positions whereas the
Africans, who sometimes might be clever, were just fit to be servants, houseboys or in the
best case, soldiers. Obviously the colonial administration was propagated in this government
paper while African values were portrayed as outdated as is seen in the November 1952
edition. Here Juma, who is a regular character in the Mambo Leo comics, was send by his
father with a foot kick to herd cattle as it is the duty for youths in many East African societies.
But instead of following the father’s orders as African custom requires he reports at the local
recruitment office to enrol as colonial soldier. Afterwards he returns to his father’s home and
asks to be saluted. Here he commits two insults: first disobeying his father’s orders to herd the
cattle then behaving disrespectful by asking to be saluted by the father instead of saluting him.
As I doubt that East Africans would ridicule their elders in this way I speculate that the artist
C.S.S. is a European.

Insert FIGURE3: A Funny in Mambo Leo 12, 1954: The youth can become a herdsboy or
a royal soldier: Father: Go and herd the goats you lazy child, stupid Juma.; Juma sees a
soldier; Juma is enrolling himself in soldier’s work; After six months he reaches his home.
Juma: If you see me stand up and salute me. I am Juma a royal soldier.

The first hint for an African cartoonist can be found in Tazama No. 21 of 27th August 1952.
This is the start of the strip “Mrefu” (the tall one) drawn by W.S. Agutu (see Figure 4). As
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Agutu is a name from the Luo community whose origins are in Western Kenya, it can be
assumed that the artist is an African. Also Obonyo (2004: 101) mentions a William Agutu, but
without giving details. The main character of the “Mrefu”-strip is a tall man called Mrefu. In
two or three panels Agutu lets Mrefu get in trouble with his tall legs, shoving the tea table or
falling over rubbish bins but usually people laugh about Mrefu’s backwardness. For example
when he is told to typewrite, piga tapureta, which literally translates as “hit the typewriter”,
he hits the typewriter with a stick much to the anger of his boss.

Insert FIGURE4: “Mrefu” by W. Agutu in Tazama 1952. “I want work as a secretary”;

“Do you know how to beat a typewriter [meaning to type]?” “This is easy for me.” “You
what is this?”

Besides Mrefu, Tazama printed also other comics. One sports strip without words was
“Alnacha Mwendaspoti”. It was drawn by Heriz, probably a pseudonym for a European artist.
Another strip which ran in Tazama for many years was “Rita”. It narrated in serialized form
the adventures of a young African lady called Rita. Every “Rita”-strip consists of two rows so
that it stands out from the other single row strips. The heroine Rita accompanies expeditions
into unknown parts of the continent (“Rita and the lost Tribe”, 1955), fights with criminals
(“Rita and the gun runners” 1955) and also takes part in fighting the Mau Mau peasant revolt
(“Rita and the Mau Mau Gang” 1954). The artist of the Rita series is not mentioned, only a
“copyright Tazama Nairobi” is remarked. Rita, just like Mambo Leo’s Juma, is a collaborator
of the colonial regime, as she fights the Mau Mau freedom movement. Later in 1960 she is
still an ideological hardliner as she ridicules communism in “Rita Ukomunisti” (1960). But it
is remarkable that her language has changed. She mastered her early adventures in English.
This suggests that this comic was not originally drawn for the Swahili paper Tazama.
However later, the examples which could be obtained are from 1960, Rita started talking
Swahili.

“Juha Kalulu”: A Kenyan Comic Veteran

But Tazama’s main contribution to Swahili comics is the fact that it is the birthplace of the
longest running Swahili comic: “Juha Kalulu” (Stupid Hare). “Juha Kalulu” is created by the
grand old man of Kenyan cartooning Edward Gicheri Gitau. 5 The first strip was published in
Tazama on 18th May 1955 (see Figure 5). Gitau remembers that there was also a Luganda
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Version of Tazama for the populace of the Uganda protectorate. But no Luganda version of
Tazama could be traced in the libraries. Instead a Luganda version of Taifa, the Swahili paper
which continued publishing “Juha Kalulu” later could be found, though the few volumes
available did not contain any “Juha Kalulu”-strips. Nevertheless it seems likely, that the
Luganda speaking “Juha Kalulu” appeared there. Gitau, born in 1930, started drawing in his
childhood days. But due to lack of pencils and papers he used to scratch images in Stones or
simply draw in the sand. He was one of the few Kenyans at that time who received secondary
education at the Kenya Teachers College. In fact one of his teachers was Jomo Kenyatta who
later became the first Kenyan President. After finishing his education he headed for
Tanganyika where he worked for the Overseas Food Cooperation as an electrician. During
that time he developed his masterly command of Swahili, because in Tanzania, Swahili is
spoken by everyone and at all occasions. Gitau returned to Kenya after a few years to work
for the Public Works Department, whose acronym PWD he translates as Punda Wengi
Duniani, “many donkeys on earth”, referring to the work conditions. After he got an accident
he looked for another job. He capitalized on his drawing skills and was employed by the East
African Standard. There he started doing illustrations for newspapers, like drawing
advertisements or a picture for a serialised novel. One of the major entertainments in the
1950s was the cinema. Gitau says that he enjoyed watching Walt Disney’s “Mickey Mouse”
and got inspired to draw a cartoon. He chose to draw a man, behaving in a stupid way and he
called the man “Juha Kalulu”. Juha is Swahili with the connotation of an idiot, though Gitau
translates it more humorously as clown. Kalulu, according to Gitau, is the Nyasa expression
for hare. 6 Nyasa is a language which is spoken around Lake Malawi and he came about it as
he worked in Southern Tanzania. In East African folktales the hare is portrayed as a clever
guy, having the qualities of a trickster. Gitau says he liked the contradiction between clownish
and clever, therefore choosing the name. Moreover, he decided that his hero should have long
pointed ears resembling the hare’s ear.

Insert FIGURE5: “Juha Kalulu’s” maiden strip in Tazama 18th May 1955: “Ahh and still
you continue to laugh!”

When he presented the strip to the editor, the editor was impressed thus “Juha Kalulu” gave
his debut in Tazama. According to Gitau’s memory, “Juha Kalulu” moved to the weekly
paper Baraza after Tazama ceased to be published. But these claims could not be verified in
the archives. In fact no drawing signed with Gitau could be traced in the available Baraza
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issues. The only hint for Gitau’s activities at Baraza is an illustration of 1953 signed
“Kalulu”, probably Gitau’s pseudonym. Other cartoons of Gitau appeared in the Journal
Nyota (e.g. in the March 1964 issue). But for sure “Juha Kalulu” started appearing in the
weekly Taifa paper, and as Taifa became a daily, Taifa Leo, “Kalulu” featured in the Sunday
edition, Taifa Jumapili. But on the 1st April 1974 “Juha Kalulu” gave his debut in the daily
Taifa Leo after a facelift of the layout of Taifa Leo. This strip was remarkable as it contains a
self portrait of Gitau who is sending his creature “Kalulu” to the readers of Taifa Leo (Figure
6). 7 Since then, “Kalulu” has been with Taifa Leo, culminating to more than 10,000 “Juha
Kalulu” strips that Gitau must have created to date. These days, “Kalulu” is even appearing in
colour, which takes much more time to draw as Gitau is brushing by hand (see Figure 7).

Insert FIGURE6: “Juha Kalulu” giving his debut as a daily strip in Taifa Leo 1st April
1974: “Kalulu wake up, the readers of Taifa Leo are eagerly waiting for you” “All right
Sir, I am coming”; “Kalulu wake up. Mr. Gitau is calling you to enjoy the readers of
Taifa.” “Tell him I am tired. He let me sleep a little bit.” “Stand up. Don’t sleep like
FUKARA. Wake up and beat laziness.” “Leave me, you cruel woman!”; “Dress fast and go
to work.” “Ah why do working days start in the morning, when sleep is the sweetest?”

It seems as if “Juha Kalulu” has not changed much during the last fifty years. His appearance
today is the same as in his oldest strips. Kalulu likes to sleep long, never manages to dress
properly, lacks sufficient financial resources and in social interaction with his fellows he
always gets into trouble. He is married to his wife Seera. She is more sensible than Kalulu as
she throws him out of bed in the mornings to make sure he won’t be late for work. Seera more
or less tries to manage Kalulu’s life which he regularly messes up. They have a son called
Ujimoto, meaning “hot porridge”. Though Kalulu and Seera have not aged in their
appearances, Ujimoto has grown from a child to a youth 8 . Kalulu’s best companion however
is his dog Taska. The name of the dog has been derived from the Kenyan beer brand Tusker
indicating that the dog is a useless drunkard. The format of the strip is four panels which
either appear in a long row or in two rows of two pictures. In the early days Kalulu countered
different problems in each strip. But since “Juha Kalalu” appears as a daily strip, the readers
follow his life as a never ending, always continuing story. Kalulu can spend several weeks
trying to lead his goats to the market for sale but chasing after them as they run away. Due to
the immense productivity of more than ten thousand “Juha Kalulu”-strips, Gitau sometimes
recycles his own work. E.g. the strip of Kalulu being too stupid to milk a cow appears more or
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less similar on 10th/11th February 1986 and on 14th/15th December 2003. Notwithstanding
Gitau also gets inspired by other comics.

Insert FIGURE7 E.G. Gitau colouring a “Juha Kalulu”-strip in December 2003.

Kalulu’s problem of fast growing hair after consuming the herbal medicine of a local
medicine man, which he faces over some weeks in January 1989 has striking similarities to
the way Getafix cheats the Romans by brewing a fake magic portion for them which keeps
their hair growing fast in the first Asterix volume, “Asterix the Gaul”. The only change in
Kalulu’s life is that he started as an urban character but later changed into a rural dweller.
This seems to be the consequence of a changing audience. Whereas in the colonial days
Swahili was the lingua franca of the Kenyan towns (and of course of the coastal region) in the
rural areas the various vernaculars dominated. This has changed. The modern urban Kenyan
of today buys English papers whereas Taifa Leo is targeted at the less educated Swahili
speaking readers and has its biggest market outside of the capital Nairobi.
“Juha Kalulu”-strips were published in three books in 1978, 1981 and 1991, though Gitau
says he never made any profit out of these. Even in 2004 at the age of 73, Gitau does his daily
strip on his desk in the news office of the Nation Group, Kenya’s biggest media company. He
even has plans for a “Juha Kalulu”-radio programme of 15 minutes which will be aired by
Nation FM, a radio station of the same media group which publishes the cartoon. Besides his
big success “Juha Kalulu”, Gitau also started the strips “Masharabu World” for the Sunday
Nation and “Darubini ya Pweza” (The binoculars of the Octopus) for the Saturday edition of
Taifa Leo.

Tanzanian Comic Ancestors

In his article on Tanzanian cartooning Packalén wrote: “During the colonial period up to
independence, Tanzanian cartooning was almost non-existent” (Packalén, 2001). However if
he means that there were no cartoons in Tanzania, he is wrong, as the Mambo Leo strips and
other examples below demonstrate. But if Packalén means that there were not many cartoons
drawn by Tanzanians, he might be right, as the only strip which was for sure drawn by a
Tanzanian at that time and could be traced in the libraries is “Juha Kasembe na ulimwengu wa
leo” (Idiot Kasembe and the modern environment), which was drawn by Peter Paulo
Kasembe, who gave his cartoon his very own name, adding a not so charming Juha (idiot).
 11/21

“Juha Kasembe na ulimwengu wa leo” gave its debut in the weekly paper Baragumu on 9th
August 1956. It was accompanied by following editorial remarks:
Sasa Baragumu lawatolea mpango mpya wa vichekesho. Hapa tunamwona Juha Kasembe
katika nyumba ya mpenzi wake. Kwa sababu ya uroho wake wa maji ya moto ambayo mpenzi
wake alitaka amtegenezee chai alimmwagikia na kumuunguza vikale sana. (Now Baragumu
publishes for you a new programme of funnies. Here we see Stupid Kasembe in the house of
his lover. Because of his greediness for hot water which his lover wants to use to make him
tea he pours it on himself and burns himself badly.)

Kasembe’s outfit consists of a checked long sleeved shirt which in combination with white
shorts and sandals gives him a comical appearance. Moreover he is wearing shades and combs
his hair parted in the middle. Kasembe is a youth who likes to show off but blunders in doing
so as he crushes into a tree after doing stunts with his new bicycle (6th September 1956), or
falls from a ladder because he does not want to remove his trendy sandals before climbing
(25th October 1956). As the strip is called Idiot Kasembe and the modern environment, quite
often Kasembe proves his ignorance in the use of modern utensils of the 1950s. As he hears
the voice of a radio he starts talking to it (4th October 1956), furthermore he does not know
that he has to lift the receiver while making a phone call (27th September 1956) (see Figure 8).
Kasembe’s mishaps are framed into four panels. The artist, who initially signed with P.P.K.
and from 1957 onwards with P.P. Kasembe, used speech balloons but there is still a text under
each strip which explains what is happening in the pictures. Probably the editors felt that the
readers needed some guidance to understand the new medium of comic and to develop their
comic reading skills. Therefore the text dominates over the pictures in the whole composition.

Insert FIGURE8: “Juha Kasembe na ulimwengu wa leo” in Baragumu 20th September

1956: ”Kasembe, John is badly injured. Go and phone the police.”; “Hallo police, John is
very badly injured.” Subtext: Living in town does not mean to understand all what’s going
on in town. Look at Mr. Kasembe who is known to be a hooligan in town but still he does
not know how to use a telephone. His friend John fell with a bicycle and was very badly
injured and Mr. Kasembe was send to phone. But is this the right way to use a telephone? I
hope it is only Kasembe who does not know this thing.

The “Juha Kasembe na ulimwengu wa leo”-strips seem to end in 1957. But in 1959 Peter
Paulo Kasembe had a comeback with another strip called “Mhuni Hamisi” (Hooligan
Hamisi). The earliest “Mhuni Hamisi”-strip which could be traced was published on 12th
November 1959. It narrates how Hamisi tries to escape arrest by cops in a bar but gets caught
 12/21

by the use of tear gas. As Hamisi’s offence is not revealed in this strip there seem to have
been predecessors which could not be obtained yet. Later he escapes the police cells and is on
the run. The “Mhuni Hamisi”-strip is drawn in quite a realistic style. Whereas “Juha Kasembe
na ulimwengu wa leo”, “Juha Kalulu” and the Mambo Leo cartoons were funnies, “Mhuni
Hamisi” seems to be the earliest Swahili adventure strip. Fist fights are drawn in a very
dynamic way and Kasembe used a lot of black ink to create dark shadows where Hamisi hides
from the police force. This style is remarkably different from Kasembe’s first naïve “Juha
Kasembe na ulimwengu wa leo” strip. One possible influence could be the Western cartoon
“Roy Rogers” which appeared in Baragumu around 1958 and 1959. These strips were printed
in the English original whereas a Swahili translation was given underneath the panels. 9
Another adventure comic appeared even before “Roy Rogers” in Baragumu. For a few weeks
in 1957 a cartoon which had no title, but a hero called Victor, was published. This African
boy was working for Bwana Morton, a European agent of an oil company (Baragumu
16.11.1957ff.). As there are no oil wells in East Africa, this comic seems to be an import
which was translated into Swahili.
Another very popular cartoon is “Chakubanga”. According to Packalén “Chakubanga” started
appearing in 1967 in Uhuru (Packalén, 2001). 10 Uhuru was the paper of the Tanganyika
African National Union (TANU, later CCM Chama Cha Mapinduzi, Revolution Party), the
Party of President Nyerere. With the nationalisation policy and the idea of state controlled
economy Uhuru became the dominant Swahili paper in Tanzania in the 1970s and 1980s
whereas most other Swahili papers were closed down. For those who follow the comic
definition of sequential art, “Chakubanga” is not a comic figure as he appears only in one
panel and not in a sequence. But as he appeared in the leading Tanzanian paper,
“Chakubanga” had a strong influence on the Tanzanian cartoonists of the 1970s and 1980s.
“Chakubanga” was created by the artist Christian Gregory who was just like his Kenyan
colleague Gitau a trained electrician. Packalén explains that the name “Chakubanga” has the
meaning of “the one who looks foolish” in the Makonde language of Southern Tanzania. And
indeed Chakubanga’s looks are particularly smart as he walks around barefoot and in torn
shorts (see Figure 9), but after a few years of appearance, Gregory dressed him in a decent
pair of black trousers. “Chakubanga” poses as the ordinary man from the street, at least the
way the ordinary man was seen by the ruling party TANU, having some minor vices like
drinking and chasing women or criticizing corrupt practices in local administration but being
content with the political system and government in general and a bit conservative, e.g. when
he makes fun out of women wearing mini-skirts. Chakubanga has a son called Chupaki and a
 13/21

wife known only as Mama Chupaki (Chupaki’s mother). Other regular characters that appear
in the cartoon are the friend Polo and the old man Mzee Bushiri. The “Chakubanga” cartoon
became very popular. “Chakubanga” booklets were published containing a collection of his
cartoons. 11
Insert FIGURE 9: “Chakubanga” “Ok, two for one, who has seen where the European [a
playing card] is lying?” “Stop your daylight robbery. Are you not ashamed? And where
have you seen that a European is lying [sleeping] on the street?” In: Uhuru 27. March
1969

Christian Comics

Besides commercial comics, funnies and adventure strips there are also early examples of
Swahili comics to be found, which are less profane. In the monthly protestant journal Uhuru
na Amani (freedom and peace) a series called “Hadithi Yesu alizosema” (Parables which were
told by Jesus) started in June 1961 (see Figure 10). Each parable was put into a comic of four
rows which took around three quarters of a page. Such a big space dedicated to one comic
story was quite a lot. Unfortunately the artist of this series is not known but without a doubt
these comics targeted an African audience because quite frequently in the last panels of each
comic some Africans are shown reading the bible and discussing the lesson from the parables.
Therefore Obonyo’s assumption that “missionary-sponsored publications may have not
carried cartoons since this may have been considered a dilution of the seriousness of the
gospel message” (Obonyo, 2004: 99) cannot be generalized for all mission papers. At least
Uhuru na Amani and Kiongozi, as will be shown below, used the means of comics to spread
the gospel and to get the attention of the readers. Just like today in the 1950s and 1960s there
is not much difference between advertising a commercial product or a new belief to the
customers. Even in the 1980s and 1990s missions published Swahili Christian comics like
“Yesu Masiha” (Prophet Jesus), which was drawn by the Dutchman Willem de Vink and
translated into Swahili (Vink n.d.). Another example is a comic series called “Heroes of
Faith”, which narrates the lives of Moses, Abraham, Elijah and others and was published by
United Bible Societies also in a Swahili version. As the originals were drawn by Johnny
Yngente, an artist from the Philippines, this is a remarkable example of South-South relations
in the comic scene. 12
As they are relatively cheap and printed in colour they are quite popular, and are commonly
brought for children of Christian families. But as they lack humour and sex, the essentials of
 14/21

successful Tanzanian comics, they are not in such a high demand like their secular
counterparts. The same can be said of development comics, which could be labelled a form of
mission comics as they propagate a western educated life.

Insert FIGURE 10 “Hadithi Yesu alizosema”. In: Uhuru na Amani August 1961

Cartoons and cartoonists crossing borders

The article so far has shown that there were comic imports coming to East Africa from
overseas, probably Europe and North America. However there is also an inner-African
exchange of comics. An early example can be found in the catholic paper Kiongozi (Leader).
From August 1955 onwards there appear the adventures of “Karikenye”. The early stories
carry the hint “adopted from Hodi”. Hodi is a mission newspaper from the Belgian Congo in
which this comic appeared under the name “Rukukuye”. The Hodi editions which could be
obtained date back to 1960. “Rukukuye” was also published in the Congolese paper Katanga,
which appeared in the Southern Katanga province of Congo (Katanga 08. April 1959). But as
“Rukukuye” was that successful, leading to its adoption by a Tanganyikan paper in 1955, it
could be speculated if the Swahili comic tradition in Congo is older than in East Africa or not.
But without a doubt the Congo roots of Swahili comics are important and have been
overlooked so far. If one considers the comic traditions of the Belgium colonialists in the
Congo it is not surprising that they had the idea to adopt this medium in their publications.
Other hints on cartooning in Belgian Congo can be found in Knigge, who mentions the Congo
as the only African country with a comic scene dating back to the 1940s, when the series
“Mbumbulu” was published and mission journals like Tamtam, Caraven or Vivante Afrique
used comics to entertain their readers (Knigge, 1996: 238).
The adoption of the Congolese comic for the Tanganyikan audience meant changing names
and places to fit into an East African setting. Moreover the Congo-Swahili, which differs a bit
from the Standard Swahili of East Africa had to be changed. Quite often there were also some
changes concerning the number of panels. In the Congolese original, each “Rukukuye” story
consists of ten panels whereas in the Tanganyikan version, the story is split into two parts
consisting of five panels each. The “Rukukuye/Kalikenye” stories do not use speech balloons
but have the dialogue and explanations written under each panel. “Rukukuye/Kalikenye” is a
boy who dresses like a scout in shorts, shirt and a beret. The outstanding tip of the beret
makes him look like an African brother of “Totor”, the first strip of the famous Belgian comic
 15/21

artist Hergé (http://www.herge.de/totor.html). This is an indication that Fivet, the artist who
signed the strip is a Belgian. In fact some of the jokes like “Rukukuye/Kalikenye” falling
from a train platform belong to Hergé’s repertoire of the clowneries of the detectives Dupont
and Dupondt (Kiongozi September 1959) (see Figure 11). “Rukukuye/Kalikenye” is a
schoolboy doing odd jobs but nevertheless he is travelling around the world to win bicycle
races in France (Kiongozi November 1957) and even to become President (Kiongozi 9.
Noveber 1959). But in the later editions of the Kiongozi paper the “Karikenye” cartoon
changes. The style of the “Karikenye” became close to that of “Chakubanga”. Instead of
being an adventure hero in five to ten panels, “Karikenye” starts commenting on social issues
in only one panel, e.g. on Presidential elections (Kiongozi 10, 1975) or advises how to get
unemployed townspeople to work on the fields (Kiongozi 01, 1976). His appearance is the
same as in the old editions but the artist has changed. Instead of “Fivet” the panel bears the
signature of “J.M.K.”.

Insert FIGURE11 “Karikenye” missing a train after spending too much time in a bar. In:
Kiongozi September 1955

Besides “Rukukuye/Kalikenye” there are other examples for East African cartoons crossing
borders. In the last ten years the Tanzanian cartoon “Kingo”, which has been created by the
Tanzanian James Gayo spread all over East Africa and beyond. It started as a cartoon for
Uhuru before moving to the Majira paper. Nowadays it appears in various Tanzanian papers
like Mtanzania or Bingwa as well as in Kenya, Uganda, Zambia. Zimbabwe, South Africa and
Namibia (Packalén, 2001, Friedrich Ebert Foundation, 2001:120 and Manyire, 2002).
But the most successful emigration of a cartoon is the example of “Ndumilakuwili”
(Graebner, 1995: 264, Beck, 1999: 92). “Ndumilakuwili” entered Kenya and changed his
name into “Kazibure”. Kenyan papers were in need of funnies thus “Kazibure” was very
welcome. “Juha Kalulu’s” success as a Swahili daily strip had its impact on other Kenyan
Swahili newspapers. In May 1983 the then ruling only party Kenya African National Union,
KANU, started the Swahili paper Kenya Leo (Kenya Today) as a sister paper of the Kenya
Times. After a few cartoon-less weeks the strip “Visa vya Mtupeni” (the adventures of
Mtupeni) drawn by Oswaggo appeared. But it seems as if “Mtupeni” was no match for the
competitor “Kalulu” as it was stopped after only one and a half years. Nevertheless Oswaggo
continued being a designer for Kenya Leo. He was drawing the editorial cartoon which
appeared on the prominent page for political comments. As Kenya Leo was a party
 16/21

newspaper, Oswaggo’s cartoons never criticized the government or even dared to draw
caricatures of politicians. Instead he appealed to the readers to do their best in building the
nation by stopping being corrupt or drinking. In the same instructive manner are Oswaggo’s
“Uungwana ni…” (“Gentlemenlike is…”) cartoons, which are a remake of Kim’s “Love is…”
. There he suggests: “Gentlemen like is … not to quarrel with your boss”, or “Gentlemen like
is … not to stay in town without a job” (but to return to the village and till the field). In this
case cartoons were used to bring the readers straight to the line of KANU, the ruling party.
But what makes Kenya Leo of interest for comic research is the fact, that from 5th January
1985 onwards the strip “Kazibure” (useless job) started appearing in this newspaper. It was
drawn by Philip Ndunguru. Ndunguru was born in 1962 in Southern Tanzania. At young age
he was given the job of the chief cartoonist of the SANI magazine where he developed
prominent cartoons like “Madenge” or “Komredi Kipepe” (Bongotoons, 2003). As an
economic crisis hit Tanzania hard and according to rumours after a quarrel with the SANI
editor he tried his luck in neighbouring Kenya. It was a remarkable step at that time as
Tanzania was seen as a socialist role model, whereas Kenya was the darling of the capitalist
West. Both countries did not get on very well at that time as the Tanzanians criticised Kenya’s
“man eats man society” whereas the Kenyans made fun out of the Tanzanians calling them a
“man eats nothing society”. Even the borders between both countries were closed in the
1980s. Nevertheless Ndunguru made it to Nairobi and found employment with the Kenya
Times publishing house. Nairobi’s media scene also attracted other foreign cartoonists, as the
examples of Frank Odoi from Ghana, the Ugandan James Tumusiime or the Tanzanian Gado
demonstrate (Obonyo, 2004: 105ff., Salahi, 1998, Gikonyo, 1986: 189). Ndunguru’s strip
“Kazibure” which started on 5th January 1985 (see Figure 12) became one of the most popular
Kenyan cartoons. His first strip depicts “Kazibure” as he reads the paper finding out that he
got a new job as a cartoon for Kenya Leo. The “Kazibure” strips were such a success that on
the 24th January 1985 not even three weeks after his debut in Kenya Leo “Kazibure” also
appeared as a Swahili speaking cartoon in the English paper Kenya Times. It is remarkable
that a distinguished paper like the Kenya Times publishes a Swahili cartoon as Swahili is in
Kenya regarded as a rural language spoken by the folks who cannot use English properly.
Nevertheless the educated readers of Kenya Times did not want to miss their “Kazibure” and
they found him on the same page as the English speaking cartoon “Bogi Benda”, drawn by
James Tumusiime. The “Kazibure” cartoon was on top and had the heading: “The footloose
and happy-go-lucky new sensation of the East African comic strip scene, KAZIBURE,
appears in The Kenya Times courtesy of Kenya Leo.”
 17/21

Ndunguru used his Tanzanian comic character “Ndumilakuwili” from the SANI magazine
whom he renamed “Kazibure”. The name “Ndumilakuwili” seemed not to be appropriate for
the Kenyan market where the Swahili is slightly different from Tanzania. “Kazibure” is a tall
slim guy who walks barefooted through life and wears a black shirt and white trousers. His
hat which covers half of his face makes him resemble the famous “Andy Capp” who was
published in various English East African Papers, e.g. The Nationalist of the 1967.
“Kazibure” is streetwise and has a big mouth which quite often gets him into trouble though
through his wit he usually ends having the upper hand in quarrels. Together with “Kazibure”
other characters of the SANI magazine appear in “Kazibure”’s strip. The most prominent one
is “Madenge”. In 1986 the name of the strip changed and it became “Madenge”. After
Ndunguru’s death on 24th May 1986 Oswaggo continues drawing “Madenge” after he had
already taken over the job for short periods in 1985.
This is the end of the sketch of a Swahili comic history. The developments of the 1990s have
been reported by Packalén (2001) for Tanzania and Obonyo (2004) for Kenya. To describe
the latest trends like the use of computers in Kenya or the change from comic magazines to
comic tabloids in Tanzania 13 would be beyond the scope of this article and has to be done
somewhere else.

Insert FIGURE12 “Kazibure” giving his Kenyan debut together with his colleagues Pimbi
and Mwinyi Mpeku in Kenya Leo 5th January 1985: “It is true, God is ATHUMANI. They
chose me!”; “Hey Kazibure, why are you coming in a rush?” “Have you already read the
Kenya Leo newspaper?”; “Oh, it’s news about us!” “I don’t believe my eyes.”; “Welcome
to the New Year. Kenya Leo starts the New Year with a new face, the deeds of Kazibure.
Don’t miss to read them every day and tell your friends about them.”

Conclusion

This article aimed to shed some light on early Swahili comics. Interestingly there are various
roots of Swahili comics. On the one hand comics developed in various places, at the East
African media centre in Nairobi, as well as in the centre of popular Swahili culture in Dar es
Salaam. Moreover there was also a Swahili comic scene in Congo which had its impact in
Tanzania. Maybe it is still there but has not received much attention because of the ongoing
civil war. Notably there had been various Swahili comic genres namely funnies or adventure
comics for entertainment, commercial comics and also Christian comics. In those early days
 18/21

the Swahili audience learned to read comic strips. As Eisner says, “Comics communicate in a
‘language’ that relies on a visual experience common to both creator and audience” (Eisner,
1990: 7). Therefore it was necessary for the Swahili artists as well as the readers to experience
comics and to develop their comic language. It took time to develop the “aesthetic perception
and intellectual pursuit” (Eisner, 1990: 8) which are the precondition to read comics and are
lacked by those who ignore comics.
Up to the 1960s the development of comics in East Africa was quite uniform due to the
common British colonial administration. Later the scenes split into party guided journalism in
Tanzania, whereas in Kenya a professional media scene was established, which is nowadays
controlled by two big media groups. Therefore, in Kenya the variety of cartoons is limited but
on a very professional level. On the other hand, the liberalisation in Tanzania in the 1990s
gave birth to a very diverse media landscape with many opportunities for cartoonists, but with
a less professional style. Therefore Tanzania is viewed as a field where an artist can develop
his talent but when he (very rarely she) is good he tries to get a good job somewhere else. 14
The different scenes in Kenya and Tanzania have also developed a different comic vocabulary
as well. Kenyans call their cartoons vibonzo (sg. kibonzo). They use a different Swahili
expression than their Swahili speaking neighbours, the Tanzanians. The Tanzanians talk of
katuni if they talk of funnies. Comic narrations are called hadithi za michoro (drawn stories),
which can be translated as graphic novels. 15 Katuni is obviously an Anglicism derived from
“cartoon”. It is remarkable that Tanzanians who are considered to speak a better and purer
Swahili borrowed the English word whereas the Kenyans, in whose country English has a
much more prominent role than in Tanzania, use a word with Bantu-roots. Katuni, as well as
kibonzo are found in the latest Swahili-English dictionary (TUKI, 2001), both with the same
translation as “cartoon” and without further hints towards the root of kibonzo. An older
Swahili dictionary (TUKI, 1980: 104) explains katuni as “picha inachorwa kueleza wazo
fulani lakini kwa namna za kuchekesha” (A picture drawn to explain a certain idea but in a
funny way). However there is also an explanation for kibonzo. A dictionary of the Kenyan
Swahili slang called Sheng translates the root bonzo as “a person, especially a girl, with an
ugly face” (Mbaabu/Nzunga, 2003: 3). Therefore, if the diminutive prefix ki- is added,
kibonzo means “a small person with an ugly face” – which makes a good description of a
cartoon.
Besides the vocabulary there is also a difference in the forms of publications. Whereas in
Tanzania there are special comic magazines and newspapers dedicated to cartoons, in Kenya
all strips appear in the daily or weekly newspapers. The Tanzanian artist GADO who works
 19/21

as political cartoonist for the Kenyan Daily Nation explains this with the hard competition of
the Kenyan market, which is dominated by the Standard and the Nation media groups. In
Tanzania it is easier to start a magazine and distribute it, whereas a successful Kenyan cartoon
magazine like Penknife gets swallowed after several issues by the dailies.
Cartoons are part of Zeitgeist as Cuccolini (2002: 66) points out. Through their visual
narrative patterns comics are able to give hints on Zeitgeist of the time of their publication.
Therefore the Swahili comics of the 1950s tell us something about late colonial Zeigeist,
depicting Africans in subordinate positions, and struggling with modern city life, though the
latter theme is still popular until today. “Chakubanga” and “Kasembe” are not much known as
cartoons in Tanzania these days. But they still have an impact on Tanzanian society as they
are still popular nicknames for funny or foolish people, as my friends told me. In the young
African nations of the 1960s and 1970s, cartoons often served nation building purposes.
Idleness and wastefulness were criticized in cartoons, whereas in the 1990s and in the new
millennium the display of wealth is a major topic in Swahili cartoons (Beez and Kolbusa,
2003). The change to multi-party politics also resulted in a vibrant political cartoon scene
(Packalén, 2001; Obonyo, 2004: 109ff.). Therefore the study of historical comics does not
only serve the documentation of a comic history but gives also insight into the development of
public discourses within the framework of popular culture.

References

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Salaam: Kapsel.
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Asterix: Globalisation in East African Comics.” International Journal of Comic Art. 5:1, pp.
95-114.
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Jigal Beez is an anthropologist who has studied, worked and did research in Tanzania and
Uganda. He has published to various aspects of East Africa, including comics. Since 2000 he
is a member of the collaborative research programme “local agency in Africa in the context of
global influences” at the University of Bayreuth, Germany.

1
Gado’s website is http://www.gadonet.com/ and the site for Kingo Magazine is
http://members.tripod.com/chumvi/kingo.htm. There also used to be http://www.kenyatoons.com, a site of
Kenyan comic artists.
2
The claim of the artist Gitau (as in Obonyo 2004: 101) of being the first cartoonists to draw Swahili comics is
not correct as this paper will demonstrate. Also Gikonyo (1986: 190) gives incorrect dates of comic publications
whereas Packalén (2001) does not reveal the sources for his statements at all.
3
There are also hints on comic strips in Swahili military journals of the second world war, but they could not be
verified yet.
4
The Kenyan Tazama Journal of the 1950s and early 1960s should not be confused with the Tazama tabloid
which appeared in Tanzania in the 1990s.
5
The information on Gitau come from an interview with him from 18.12.2003 and an article by Mung’ou
(2000). Also Obonyo (2004: 101), (Beck 1999: 69, 93) and Gikonyo (1986: 190) mention Gitau briefly.
6
The website http://dancinghare.com/africa/ presents two Kalulu stories and explains that the origins of the word
Kalulu are from Zambia. Another site http://www.darsie.net/talesofwonder/kalulu.html tells a Kalulu tale from
central Africa. It seems Kalulu is widely known in the Bantu world.
7
The information given by Gikonyo (1986: 190) who wrote that Kalulu started appearing 1973 is not correct as
he obviously had his first appearance in 1955 and started as a daily in 1974. Though Packalen (2001) did not cite
Gikonyo he also mentions 1973 as the beginning of Kalulu even claiming that Kalulu was a spinoff of the
Tanzanian cartoon of Juha Kasembe by Peter Paulo Kasembe. Juha Kasembe was according to Packalen
published in the 1950s and 1960s but he does not say where, nor does he give an example.
8
Ujimoto is also the name of a hero of a comic strip that appeared the journal Habari za Redio which was
published by the African Broadcasting Service in 1957. As there are no indications who the creator of this
Ujimoto was it is not possible to say if Gitau created it himself or got simply inspired.
9
Another example for the techique of printing an English original strip and adding Swahili translations can be
found in the Tanzanian monthly Lengo. There Paul White’s strip “Jungle Doctor’s Fables” was changed into
“Chui aliyekua” (Growing Leopard). Not all speech balloons were translated though but some explanations for
the Swahili readers were added.
10
I could not get the 1967 Volume of Uhuru for verification. The 1966 Volume of Uhuru does not contain any
Chakubanga cartoons, whereas in 1969 Chakubanga had already started his career.
11
I thank Prof. Gurdrun Miehe for this advise and borrowing me her Chakubanga booklet.
12
On UBS comics see http://www.gospelcom.net/rox35media/noteable.html, accessed 17th March 2004.
13
These were topics of interviews with STANO (17.12.2003) Anthony Mwangi (18.12.2003) and Chris
Katembo (05.02.2004).
14
Interview with GADO, 19th December 2003.
15
Interview with Chris Katembo, 05th February 2004.