On a hot, sunny day in Nairobi in February, 2003 a petite African girl with a beaming smile, a dark complexion donning a flowing nightingale dress and apparently in her early twenties, gracefully, like royalty, walked into the milling crowds around the National Museums of Kenya grounds.
The event dubbed “Malaika Festival”, then in its nascent stages was taking place as a tribute to the late Kenyan music icon Fadhili William of the “Malaika” song fame who had just passed on exactly two years before.
A Photo Exhibition of the music icon as a young participant in the famous “East African Railways and Harbors Show Boat Program” of the late 50s was among the activities featured at the National Museums of Kenya.
The Kenya Police Brass Band who led the musical procession from the Jeevanjee Gardens in the heart of the City along Uhuru Highway towards the Museum thrilled fans of the fete with their rendition of “Malaika”
Miss Lupita Nyong’o, whose arrival had, moments earlier caused a stir among the event’s fans and revelers, was the reigning Miss Malaika, 2003.
Although “Miss Malaika” Beauty Pageant 2003 whose crown she was show-casing was a separate entity led by Miss Pinky Gelani and her cohorts, the unfolding “Malaika Festival” whose photographic exhibitions depicting Fadhili William’s East African musical legacy around which Miss Lupita felt like a fish in water, was a musical and cultural enterprise led by a totally different pair of Kenyan hands. It was a meeting of like minds!
For the occasion, Lupita donned a conspicuous “Miss Malaika” sash across her torso, which flowed down her gaunt waist, giving her a charming, stately air around her orbit.
Some pictures of the Museum event show Lupita surrounded by now-familiar public figures like that of Miss Joyce Wanjallah Lay, former Taita Taveta Women representative to the Kenya National Assembly who was part of Malaika Festival crew.
In the preceding speeches in the Museum’s auditorium, all spoke of the need to celebrate and promote our local artistes and, culture.
When she finally took to the podium, Lupita Nyong’o, who had not met Fadhili William in person in his lifetime, nevertheless spoke warmly of his creativity and acoustic prowess which included, as she reminded her audience, the guitar works on the popular Kenyan twist song ‘Harambee Harambee”, which he played alongside the erstwhile Daudi Kabaka of “Helule Helule” song fame.
Both Fadhili William and Daudi Kabaka passed on in February and November, respectively, of the same year, 2001.
Regrettably, Lupita’s reign as “Miss Malaika” was short-lived, however, as she had to break off to pursue a 4-year course in film and digital media at the Hampshire College in Massachussets, USA.
Born in Mexico City to Kenyan parents Peter Anyang Nyong’o and Dorothy Nyong’o, Lupita Nyong’o went on to become the internationally-acclaimed and successful actress.
Lupita played a prominent role in “The Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”, an American film which premiered in October 2022 that has won her accolades and an indelible place in Hollywood. The film, featuring the character Shuri/Black Panther, is produced by Marvel studios, and distributed by Walt Disney Studios. The cast included Leticia Wright, Dominique Thorne, Mabel Cadena and Florence Kasumba among others.
Among her other prominent roles, Lupita Nyong’o was nominated as a Global Elephant Ambassador by Wild Aid, an American organization whose objectives include conservation of wildlife species.
This year’s annual Malaika Festival, set for Saturday 14 October along Voi City’s Catholic Street is themed “Re-Launching Our Domestic Tourism”.
The Festival, initially celebrated in Nairobi where Fadhili William grew up and lived before his demise in 2001, has taken root in his native Taita Taveta County where he was enrolled for his early Primary Schooling prior to relocating to Nairobi in the early 40s together with his siblings where his mother worked as a house maid for white folks.
Duncan Mwanyumba,
Voi City, Saturday, October 7, 2023.
Duncan Mwanyumba is a Senior Counsel/Advocate of the High Court of Kenya currently based in Voi City, Taita Taveta County 006; a founder member of the Rotary Club of Voi and a cultural practitioner in his own right. He is the founder of Voi City Entertainment and Sports (VoiCES) and the annual Malaika Festival.
