A Poem for Thandika Issa Shivji

A renowned and well-respected Pan-Africanist intellectual, Thandika Mkandawire, joined the ancestors on 27th March 2020 in the early hours of the morning. Sadness enveloped his colleagues, friends and the African intellectual community at large. Issa Shivji could not find prose to express the loss – he just jotted down these words (a poem?) in Kiswahili on the same day.  Ida Hadjivyanis translated it to English.

Thandika mpenzi wetu

Tunahuzunika

Tumetandika mkeka wa kuomboleza.

Thandika anatabasamu:

Ewe Issa, mkeka wa nini!

Sherehekeni maisha

Kifo ni usumbufu tu

Msisumbuliwe

Endeleeni na mapambano

Kukomboa Africa

Kuunganisha Afrika

Kujenga ustaarabu mbadala

Uliosheheni haki na usawa

Issa Shivji Dar es Salaam,  27/03/2020

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Thandika our beloved

We are grieving

The mat is laid for mourning.

Thandika smiles:

O Issa, why this mat!

Celebrate life

Death is but an interruption

Let it not unsettle you all

The struggle must continue

To liberate Africa

To Unite Africa

To create that alternative civilization

That overflows with justice and equality

Translated by:Ida Hadjivyanis, London, 28/03/2020