THE MYSTERY OF THE MALAIKA COMPOSER AND MBOYA'S CONTRIBUTION

BY JEROME OGOLA

When Kenyan pugilist Robert Nangila was boxed to death in Las Vegas in 1994, a bizarre tussle on who his father emerged with a dozen guys coming up to claim paternity.

This could definitely be attributed to his success in the ring, being the only African to win a gold medal in the Olympics and with this kind of achievement, the former star boy had definitely built an enormous financial empire. 

Malaika is undoubtedly the most popular Swahili song. The ballad has traversed the world, recorded hundreds of times by different musicians, and performed uncountable times. The song is the 'Guantanamera' of East Africa. It hasn't just happened. It has been there for many decades now, to be precise, for over 60 years. Its success notwithstanding, there seems to be no consensus on who authored the song. Maybe success begets many fathers. Many people have come up to make wild claims directly attributed to the song's success. The ballad was first recorded at Equator Records by Fadhili Williams and this makes him the legal owner of the song, as far as the copyright laws are concerned, but there is a dispute on if he indeed authored the song, with evidence that the song existed long before the period he claimed to have composed it.

Although it is an old song,  it has been done by several musicians, traversing continental frontiers, and this has happened across generations. Among those who have redone the song are Harry Belafonte of the USA, Miriam Makeba of South Africa, and Safari Sounds of Tanzania. Others are international stars Usha Uthup, Pete Seeger, Angelique Kidjo, Helmut Lotti, Boney M, The Help Stars, Rocco Granata, and Saragosa Band, among many others. The song became popular in the USA because of the version of Miriam Makeba, a South African musician who was exiled in the USA during the apartheid era. 

Fadhili admittedly sojourned in the USA for no less than two decades on what he admittedly attributed to the success of 'his' song. Fadhili who also composed one of Kenya's most popular songs, was a musician with Equator Sounds of Nairobi, a studio band that was housed at Equator Records in Nairobi, one of the earliest recording companies in Nairobi, which was owned by Briton Charles Worrod, also revered to as the father of the famed twisty. 

Fadhili claimed to have composed Malaika for his teenage girlfriend called Fanny, whom they had schooled with but couldn't marry because he didn't have any money to sustain a marriage then and the lady ended up being snatched by a rich man in the neighborhood. It is remembered that South African songbird Miriam Makeba, for her role in the anti-apartheid movement and her support for the independence wind that had swept across Africa, had been invited to perform at Kenya's independence fete in Nairobi in 1963 by KANU stalwart, the late Tom Mboya. 

Since Makeba didn't speak Swahili, David Amunga, then a top Kenyan musician, was brought to her at the Stanley Hotel in Nairobi where she lived, to help her create a Swahili song for the event. It is here that she composed the song Pole Mzee for Kenyatta. It has also been claimed that the duo only spruced up an existing song as opposed to composting a new one. Prof Larry Gumbe, a Kenyan engineer who is vastly knowledged in this matter, is Africann The music disputes this theory, stating that Pole Mzee was equally in existence and was performed many times by Tochi Singh on VOK The most known version of Pole Mzee was recorded by Tabuley Rocherreau in 1966, with his band African Fiesta National.

David Amunga was quoted by the Daily Nation stating that, despite not practicing the song Malaika in advance, on the practical day of the performance, it was decided that Makeba perfume the song. Tom Mboya had to scribble the lyrics for her to guide her on stage and since the flamboyant politician wasn't familiar with the lyrics he ended up adding a line 'pesa zasumbua roho yangu' which fitted on well like a mortise in a tennon and was subsequently incorporated into the song, thus making a valuable mistake. 

The imported line had initially belonged to another Fadhili song. Thus, TJ, as the politician, was known to qualify into the list of those who modified the song, although not necessarily that of composers. Apart from Fadhili, the other theories that exist on the song's authorship are among others Grant Charo, who according to Charles Worrod of Equator, recorded this song before Fadhili but he too wasn't the original composer. This theorem debunks the Fadhili theorem. Charo was Fadhili's brother-in-law. Adam Salim, a Tanzanian musician living in Nairobi in the 1950s, has also been listed by other quarters as the song's originator. According to those who advanced this theory, Adam had composed the song for his girlfriend. This theory was lent credit by Makeba when she stressed that she didn't compose the song as it was done by a Tanzanian musician.

Others like David Amunga believe that as such, as the song was first recorded in Kenya, it was imported into the country by the King's African Riffle combatants returning into the country from the war in Burma. Many other theories have been advanced on the song's authorship. With all these theorists, some even suggest that it is an improvement of an old Giriama folklore. With all these theories, it doesn't remain easy to ascertain who composed the song, leaving it a mystery.

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