The book review:
This novel of African life was written by Dr. Arthur Gakwandi, a Ugandan diplomat and professor at Makerere University. The book can be hard to find, but now is listed on Amazon. I suppose that some of you taught this book in literature class because I believe that it is now on the East African secondary syllabus. In any case, it is a revealing portrait of modern Africa.

Set in the early years of independence, the story concerns a young Ugandan, Kosiya Kifefe, and tracks him through secondary school, on to the work place at Ugandan Railways and further as he rises to be a “big man” in the new Uganda. Yet almost nothing is foreordained as Kifefe starts as a poor villager who rises not so much by stint of ability as by luck. An engaging early scene has teenage Kifefe carry his first pair of shoes to a banana grove where he tries them on and practices walking before strutting his stuff for his classmates. Kifefe dreams of success, for love and for respect, but his naiveté and weak moral compass work against rationality. Often a victim of events—admittedly most of his own making—Kifefe finds himself in all sorts of family, love, work and political problems, most of which he squirms through in sordid fashion.

The strength of the novel lies in its credibility. It tracks like a real story. The situations and characters are believable. Kifefe’s observations about poverty, modernism and power are apt. The novel sheds light on a changing society and emerging elites. It is particularly entertaining in elucidating racial, tribal, caste and class perceptions. No doubt East African secondary students see themselves dreaming Kifefe’s dreams while they are both horrified and intrigued by the reality of his success—and ultimate fall. For the rest of us, Gakwandi’s novel offers fascinating—and entertaining—insight into the inner workings of African society.