A Struggle of sixty-two days

Shiraz Durrani

Description

A Play based on the 1936-37 strikes for 25% wage rise and an eight-hour working day in Kenya.
The Annual General Meeting of the Labour Trade Union of Kenya in Sept 1936 fixed Oct 1936 for implementation of the eight-hour day .. In December 1936, the Union gave notices to employers that all wages should be increased by 25% from April 1937. The strike began on 1 April, 1937. It was a complete strike. A strike-committee was formed, picketing was organised, a free kitchen was started .. the decision was popularised through handbills, meetings in residential areas, works-discussions and public announcements (preceded by ringing of a large bell), in the the main thoroughfares of Nairobi, and daily mass meetings. The campaign created a new spirit among workers. The employers were at last compelled to reach a settlement. They agreed to wage-increase of 15-22%, to an eight-hour day and reinstatement of all workers. The workers resumed work on 2 June, 1937.
- Makhan Singh (1969)
Thus ended the longest, and the most successful, strike in the history of Kenya. But the sacrifices, the actions and the reality of the strike for workers is not captured by history books. Nor are the organisation by the East African Trade Union Congress and the role of its leader, Makhan Singh, fully understood. In going on strike for sixty-two days, the workers showed their industrial and political power, unmatched to this day.
Shiraz Durrani's A Struggle of Sixty-Two Days is a welcome addition to a growing backlist of drama texts that draw on the rich and often hidden history of East Africa. A Struggle of Sixty-Two-Days sets itself apart from the tradition of historical plays before it by eschewing the use of a singular heroic figure to centre the drama. Instead, the play deliberately delivers the texture of the lived realities, skills and experiences of the workers who made a success of the longest and most consequential strike in the country's history, but also acknowledges the collaboration and support they drew from the people against the backdrop of the imperialist, racist and colonial era The 1937 strike would not only deliver an eight-hour working day as a right, besides wage increases, but would also be the seeding for mobilising the people of Kenya to challenge injustice and launch the fight for freedom. It is a struggle that pits the might of imperialist capital against the survival instincts of the oppressed and their quest for justice. The scenery and dialogue transport the reader back to 1937, but its echoes still ring true in continuing present-day clashes between labour and exploitative capital.
- Kwamchetsi Makokha

Sujets

• African
• African people

Informations

• Publié par: Vita Books
• Date de parution: 14 février 2024
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9789914970166
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 10 Mo

Extrait

A STRUGGLE OF SIXTY-TWO DAYS

A Play based on the 1936-37strikes for

25% wage rise andan eight-hour working

day in Kenya

Shiraz Durrani

based on History of Trade Union Movement to 1952 MAKHAN SINGH East African Publishing House (1969)

Never Be Silent. Simama Imara.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. Nor be circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

Distributed Worldwide by African Books Collective P.O. Box 721, Oxford, OX1 9EN [e-mail] africanbookscollective.com

Vita Books P.O. Box 62501-00200, Nairobi [e-mail]

vitabooks.co.ke

DESIGN + LAYOUT

Khalsa Lakhvir-Singh

ISBN: 978-9914-9701-3-5 (Paperback) | ISBN: 978-9914-9701-2-8 (Ebook)

Never Be Silent. Simama Imara.

© Shiraz Durrani, 2024

Onyango 'Dies'

Peoples School

9

Nchi Yetu ni Kenya

A        E       Y       S

CONTENTS

Introduction - Kwamchetsi Makokha

But resist we must

69

6

10

Nchi Yetu ni Kenya - Play Within a Play

Workers are not buying food

44

We Who Labour in Farms and Factories

What Can We Not Achieve

ACT TWO: THE TAKING OF POSITIONS

92

60

67

68

Song of the Long Strike

Daddy, Did You Mind the Picket Line?

The Employers Despair

Nchi Yetu Ni Kenya

Abdi, the Eyes and Ears

ACT THREE: THE GENERAL STRIKE

A Personal Affair

The Picket Line

24

22

Scene 2:

Scene 1:

19 21

14

21

112

125

93

122

103

Scene 3: Battles … And More Battles Never Let Go the Weapon

98

114

Scene 2:

Cast of Characters

Scene 1:

ACT ONE: THE FIRST VICTORY

Land of Our Birth

Nchi Yetu ni Kenya

11

81

Scene 4:

Scene 1:

Scene 3:

Scene 2:

A        E       Y        S

INTRODUCTION

A great revival of theatre is under way around the world at a time when there is also a dearth of stage plays owing to technological changes that are driving much of the creative dramatic energy towards television and the silver screen. Whatever form these creative energies take, history remains an important point of reference, providing a compass of where society ought to go.

History comes alive and is immortalised when textual fact is fused with performance. Theatre has power to immortalise history by coupling memory with imagination, as has been demonstrated by performative texts drawing on historical events and figures, such as William Shakespeare’s Julius Caeser, to inspire the creation of a collective memory that is informational, dialogic and ideological.

Shiraz Durrani’sA Struggle of Sixty-Two Daysis a welcome addition to a growing backlist of drama texts that draw on the rich and often hidden history of East Africa, whose repertoire includes Muhammad Kijuma’s The Epic of Fumo Liyongo, Ngugi wa Thiong’o and Micere Mugo’s The Trial of Dedan Kimaathi, Ebrahim Hussein’s Kinjeketile, Okoiti Omtatah’s Lwanda Magere, Wahome Mutahi and Titi Wainaina’s Jomo Kenyatta the Man, Nyambura Mpesha’s Mugasha, and Andrew Tumbo’s Me Katitlili: The Wonder Woman of Kenya, among others.

A Struggle of Sixty-Two Days sets itself apart from the tradition of historical plays before it by eschewing the use of a singular heroic figure to centre the drama. Instead, the play deliberately delivers the texture of the lived realities, skills and experiences of the workers who made a success of the longest and most consequential strike in the

6

A        E       Y        S

country’s history, but also acknowledges the collaboration and support they drew from the people. Against the backdrop of the imperialist, racist and colonial era, the 1937 strike would not only deliver an eight-hour working day as a right, besides wage increases, but would also be the seeding for mobilising the people of Kenya to challenge injustice and launch the fight for freedom. It is a struggle that pits the might of imperialist capital against the survival instincts of the oppressed and their quest for justice.

Rather than merely reproduce history, this play is an open invitation to artistes to spark community dialogues on their lived realities and how they can chart their future. The scenery and dialogue transport the reader back to 1937, but its echoes still ring true in continuing present-day clashes between labour and exploitative capital. The open and suggestive frame of this play gives producers the artistic licence to interpret it in multiple ways that would make it meaningful to audiences across time and space.

Kwamchetsi Makokha Kitale, November 2023

7

Workers

A        E       Y        S

CAST OF CHARACTERS

Nyanjiru:Woman who sells uji, mahamri, githeri at construction sites

Amina:Student, helps Nyanjiru

Hamida:Teacher

Mawji:Construction worker

Juma:Mason/quarry worker

Onyango:Railway worker

Abdi:Worker

Makhan Singh:Trade unionist

Karsan:Worker

Visram:Worker

Bholu:Student/worker

Balwant:Worker

Children

Workers

9

Employers and their allies

Ratanlal:Employer

Lalji Ladha:Employer

Digby:Employer, special branch officer, police reservist/settler

Govind:Clerk

Kuria:Clerk/landlord

1st Askari

2nd Askari