Cry for justice

The author has been detained, uncharged and untried, since June 1982 Kilio cha Haki (‘Cry for Justice’) is a Kiswahili play set in Kenya during the colonial period. It is about the struggle between Kenyan workers on Mr Delamon's farm and the white settlers occupying their country. In this struggle, the workers are led by a brave woman, Lanina, who exposes the exploitation and injustice prevailing in the society. She succeeds in making the workers stand up and fight for their rights. In the ensuing struggle on the farm, three of Mr Delamon's assistants are killed. The entire workers' leadership is arrested and charged with murder. This was the beginning of the larger struggle for independence of the whole country. Al-Amin Mazrui is a highly-respected Kiswahili writer and scholar, an executive committee member of the Kenyan Writers Association, and was a lecturer in linguistics at Kenyatta University College until his arrest in June 1982 and subsequent detention without trial: (see Index on Censorship 2/1983, back cover). Two weeks before his arrest, Kilio cha Haki was performed at the University of Nairobi. This first English translation of an extract from Kilio cha Haki has been prepared by the Kiswahili scholar and poet, Abdilatif Abdalla.