The name Wallah bin Wallah evokes fond memories of the elementary school author of several Swahili textbooks for both the younger and older generations.
His impact has spread far beyond the borders of East Africa, affecting almost every country there. Wallah’s expertise and influence are unparalleled; he has written multiple textbooks and helped translate Tanzania’s current constitution.
The author also went from making Ksh300 ($4) per month teaching Swahili in a primary school to making an unbelievable Ksh70 million ($710,000) annually from book royalties.
The year 1956 marked the beginning of Wallah’s life, which he spent in Mwanza, in northern Tanzania. The author attended Lukungu Primary School for a year before transferring to Bukumbi Primary School, where she remained for the next two years.
In spite of passing my final exam for Grade 7, I was unable to continue on to High School since my family could not afford the tuition. In 1972, he told Nation, “Church missionaries took me in and enrolled me in the Nyegezi Seminary School for a year and a half.”
However, as a result of his conversion to Islam, Christian missionaries could no longer financially back his education.
He sold fish between Mwanza and Kisumu for a short time to make ends meet until the Muslim Youth League paid for him to attend high school in Nairobi.
Wallah’s sponsors could only afford to pay for him to attend Ravals Secondary School in Nairobi through Form Two, so he had to go back to work when he struggled to pay his tuition.
I decided to start a street vending business, peddling peanuts and vegetables. I used to get up at 3 o’clock in the morning, drive to Marikiti to stock up on vegetables, and then rush off to school. The vegetables were packed and sold after school. “Other times, I would sell peanuts at the train station,” he explained.
Wallah developed a deep appreciation for Swahili and ultimately graduated from Form Four fluent in the language. Among his duties is instructing students in Swahili.
“I was told to begin my teaching career immediately. Each month’s salary totaled Ksh300. To them, this sum of money represented a substantial fortune.
After finishing Form 6, he decided to pursue his passion for teaching by attending Morogoro Teachers Training College. He was hired as a Swahili instructor at Misiani Girls’ Secondary School for a three-year stint.
Because he aspired to be a writer and was troubled by the destructive effects of tribalism in Kenya, he changed his name from the Luo-sounding Wallah Ndedah to the Arabic-sounding Wallah bin Wallah (Wallah son of Wallah).
As time went on, he attended classes at the Zanzibar campus, where he studied Arabic and Swahili. After returning to Kenya, he was sent to teach at Moi Girls in Isinya.
After that he was moved to Mbita High School. His first work, Malenga wa Ziwa Kuu, was used as a textbook in a number of institutions at the time to train future teachers.
He resigned the Teachers Service Commission the same year he published his second book, Taswira ya KCPE Kiswahili (1994). (TSC). The two novels he had already published provided him a tremendous chance after Longhorn publishers urged him to create Swahili instructional materials.
Because of this opening, the Kiswahili Mufti series was born, covering elementary school through high school. It was he who authored the Insha Mufti series.
Before his writings and style of writing were accepted by the Swahili academic community, they had been the target of severe criticism. Along with two other scholars, Wallah assisted in translating the constitution of Tanzania.
Determine what others have done and then challenge yourself to improve upon it. Avoid being a plagiarist. Grow an identity apart from the crowd,” he said.
Since Wallah’s primary source of income is from royalties, he regularly receives payments of around Ksh50 million.
