Wamukoya Netia

“The reason you will find me reading Chinua Achebe, Cyprian Ekwensi, Meja Mwangi, HR Ole Kulet etc is because I relate to their stories. I love African folklore. I love the African setting. And characters. And proverbs and sayings.

Wamukoya Netia is a beautiful story of succession politics in the Wanga Kingdom. It has jealousy, witchcraft and competition as ingredients. It gives the non-Wanga reader an idea of what happens when potential heirs break their backs to become the Nabongo. In this case, the scheming son of a concubine, for all intents and purposes the least favorite, beats all odds to take the throne.

Didi Wamukoya will take the literary scene by storm. She weaves stories, proverbs, sayings and imagery with seamless prose. Her understanding of her people’s customs is up there with the ozone layer. She tells her stories in a most captivating way. She makes you part of the cast, the thirsty reader.

This is the kind of stuff I signed for.”

“If you have read those Nigerian books like “Things Fall Apart” and “The Concubine”, which capture communities’ village life and cultural practices, then you will know that very few Kenyans venture into this field. Which is a shame, given the potential gold mine that is our cultural preservation in text. The authenticity of life in its raw form, at source, makes for amazing reading.

This book is the work of a young Wanga woman, Didi Wamukoya. Officially, it is the work of fiction, but once you begin narrating a story revolving about a community’s customs, practices and daily life, the line between fiction and reality gets really blurred. It tells the story of the search for the successor of Nabongo Osundwa. He has three sons in contention, including his illegitimate son, Wamukoya Netia, a rank outsider in the succession equation, but one whose claim to the throne is eerily supported by spirits of the ancestors. The three sons and their supporters begin scheming to outdo each other. The palace is thrown into disarray as backstabbing, gossip and intrigue take over.

The journey to finding the Nabongo’s successor will take you through the best of Wanga customs, proverbs in plenty and cultural practices that will leave you asking for more. The beauty of this book is its unpretentious and detailed nature, in an explosion of love, sex, jealousy and all those things that make an African village whole, especially a Kingdom on the throes of a cut throat succession plan.”

“When was the last time you read a captivating story that captures your whole being and imprisons it? When did you last get immersed into a story that turns you from a mere reader to a part of the cast, a schemer or even a spirit in the story? This is exactly what Didi Wamukoya does with her fiction yet so real book, “Wamukoya Netia”.

As you walk through the twelve chapters of the book, you find your heart and soul switching sides, admonishing, cheering, castigating and ostracizing effortlessly. The story is so riveting that by the time it comes to an abrupt end, you feel you are not only part of the Wanga Kingdom but the weight of your new wisdom bogs down your soul! You have truly earned your firm place among Nabongo’s elders!

You are about to call the author for the rest of the chapters, because you feel that you needed to read some more, that the END so loudly marked should have been a pause! This is a worthwhile read. Lets pray for “Wamukoya Netia 2″ soonest.”