Posts by Drum Major
31
Aug
‘MUMBI AND THE FULL NINE’-A REVIEW BY AUTHOR CIKU KIMANI
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Drum Major
In 2022, Gilbert Mwangi published NOBODY'S DARLING, a historical fiction of Muthoni Nyanji...
24
Mar
WHO IS GĨKŨYŨ? (AGĨKŨYŨ CREATION MYTH EXPLAINED)
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The first man, according to the Agĩkũyũ creation myth, was called Gĩkũyũ. The name rises f...
11
Mar
THE FULL NINE: WHAT’S IN A BOOK TITLE?
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“Whats ‘Full Nine’?” One reader asked when I launched the book 'Mũmbi and the Full Nine' l...
11
Mar
AFRICAN HEROINES VS FAIRY TALES: MEET MŨMBI AND THE FULL NINE
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When we were young, they taught us about Cinderella—the hapless girl who flees as the bell...
11
Mar
MUMBI AND THE FULL NINE
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Finally,the fire returns!
When the world was still soft with dawn, Mwene Nyaga, the...
02
Feb
BLACK HISTORY MONTH
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February is Black History Month.
It’s not just another hashtag, or calendar event. It’s...
18
Dec
THE FORESTS ARE TURNING BLUE: THŨNGŨYA BLOOMS AGAIN
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“In the forest of Upper Kikuyu in the Aberdare range there grows a small tree called Thong...
07
Dec
SEVEN TRAVEL TRENDS THAT WILL DEFINE 2026
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Data from the world's leading hotel groups, travel firms and trend forecasters suggests th...
20
Nov
DIGITAL ‘GUKAS’ FIGHT IT OUT ON FACEBOOK
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I dunno who opened a Facebook account for Gicheru, our breeder-cum-herbalist in the villag...
20
Nov
BASIR
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Basir.A place I can’t visit anymore. But a photograph, like this one I took ten years ago,...
05
Nov
LESSONS FROM A CON MAN
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In my short life under the sun, I have seen a lot. This happened back in the early 2000s. ...
28
Oct
OUR BOYS NOW CONSULT CHATGPT BEFORE FACING THE ‘CUT’
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The closure of schools in Murima signals the beginning of the intitation season for the yo...
26
Oct
THE NUN’S SECRET DUET
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It’s was the late 1950s.The Catholic Diocese of Murang’a had just completed building Kiang...
23
Oct
CHILDREN OF THE FOREST
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When the Mau Mau war ended, there was a flurry of literature:recollections of a burning ti...
22
Oct
RAILA AND THE MAKING OF A MODERN MYTH
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When the remains of Raila Amolo Odinga arrived from India yesterday, the city broke into h...
26
Sep
WHEN A FRIEND DEPARTS, HE TAKES A PIECE OF YOUR WORLD
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There was always something about Francis, one of the boys I met when I joined high school....
19
Sep
LATEST FAD IN KENYA WILL MAKE YOU SNEEZE
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At any given moment, there’s always a fad sweeping across this Jamhuri, some new miracle p...
18
Sep
THE YEAR OF THE COUGAR?
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Of late, there has been an explosion of older women getting hitched to young studs. I do n...
22
Aug
DEAD OR ALIVE
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Gicheru and Uncle may be agemates, but they are as different as water and oil. You’d expec...
21
Aug
REMEMBERING TO REMEMBER: THE SACRED DUTY OF MEMORY
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I was delighted to read in the Daily Nation of 16th August 2025 that the family of the lat...
18
Aug
CULTURE IS,NOT WAS
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Lately, there has been a vibrant revival of Agikuyu-themed festivals:gatherings that pulse...
15
Aug
WHERE THE CAMEL BELLS STILL RING
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This week, six years ago, I took my last rickety flight out of Wajir aboard one of those b...
14
Aug
BIZARRELY DELICIOUS:QUIRKY FOOD NAMES FROM CENTRAL KENYA
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Murima folks aren’t known for their culinary prowess. We are the national laughing stock i...
01
Aug
HOW TO DATE A LOADED KIKUYU MUBABA
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Once in a while, I receive letters from readers that range from the curious to the downrig...
07
Jul
THE ICONIC ‘TOYOTA STOUT’ PICKUP
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Great moments in history are captured in iconic photos. The good thing about a photo is th...
05
Jun
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MAPEMA NDIO BEST...
Second term is here with us-and so is the school tours season.
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05
Jun
NGUGI WA THIONG’O- A MEMORIAM
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I was introduced to the wonderful world of Ngũgĩ’ wa Thiong’o when I was a scrawny Standar...
25
May
DANIEL KAMAU,THE MAN WHO BROUGHT BENGA BEAT TO KIKUYU POPULAR MUSIC
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Before there was Samidoh , HSC , before mugithi,there was Daniel Kamau Mwai.Affectionately...
08
Feb
MAGICAL MURANG’A: DARE THE ABERDARES HIKE
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Back in 1884, a wide-eyed British explorer named Joseph Thompson left England, dreaming of...
04
Feb
‘RATISH’: THE AMBER REVOLUTION BREWING TROUBLE FOR BREWERS
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Mũratina, the golden nectar of the House of Mũmbi is slowly staging a grand comeback. If I...
02
Feb
‘MY PEOPLE’ POEM THE KIKUYU VERSION
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If there is a poem that every Black child must learn by heart,then its 'My People' by the ...
30
Jan
KIBAKI’S MASTERCLASS IN CUTTING THROUGH NON-ISSUES
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Once upon a time, during President Kibaki’s administration, the Secretary to the Cabinet d...
29
Jan
THE BROKEN POT
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Mũmbi collected a dollop of clay from the riverside and conjured a beautiful earthen pot t...
26
Jan
MAGICAL MURANG’A: MURANG’A GORGES
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Heading to Sagana from Murang’a town? There’s a little detour waiting to sprinkle some mag...
14
Jan
WHEN THE WILD ROSES BLOOM: THE MYSTICAL CLOCK OF “THŨNGŨYA” PLANT
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Among the Agĩkũyũ people, the passage of time wasn’t marked by mere calendar years dictate...
11
Jan
NEW TERM,FRESH EDUCATIONAL TOUR SITES
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Howdy everyone,
The first term is here, and so is school tours season. At Drum Major To...
09
Jan
MEASLES, MARX, AND STINKY STATE GOONS
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Around January 1999, I developed a strange sickness that wouldn’t respond to any antidote ...
07
Jan
ABERDARES BONGO ECO LODGE-WHERE ‘AWESOME’ RESIDES
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Awe is described as the sensation of being in the presence of something enormous that is b...
03
Jan
LIFE IS A WHEEL THAT ALWAYS ROLLS ON
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One of the oldest traditions amongst many ancient communities is that time will stop at th...
31
Dec
APPRECIATION POST
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Thank you all for the support in 2024.All year,you were the wind beneath our wings.
May...