MUNYWOKI; A MAN I REVERE

Am seated on a bench. A hot bench. No, it is not Jeff Koinange's steamingly hot bench-am not yet there. But wait! Wait wait... What would I be doing there? Would the flamboyant, baritone-voiced Mr. 'My Oh My' be interviewing me on why I have put so many squirrels on my blog? Jeff, are you interested in learning such things? Are they hot? 'No'. Okay. I can't be on your bench then.

Neither am I seated at that infamous Muliro gardens bench where you witnessed acts that almost cost your eyesight. I do not go there, I am saved. Oops, I now sound like the University MCCU chairman.

Am seated at one of St. Paul's university chapel choir benches when something intriguing hits my mind. Most of the choir members, including me, do not know the songs we sing by heart. Serengeti (the squirrel) is not alone in his ignorance. We too are there, Serengeti. At most times, we fumble on words- singing croaky things that are only pleasing to toads.

Luckily, there are choir books sprawling in front of us. I pick one and start leafing through its numerous pages. At the same time, I wonder who could have mint such a brilliant idea. Whoever they were, are indeed think tanks. They must have been very creative and committed to problem solving tactics. My okuyu conscience whispers that they must be stinking rich too. Typing such voluminous copies of choir books must have made the guy's wallet fatten.

The choir books were typed and designed by one of us. Ok wait, do not gasp in surprise.That is not all. He did it free of charge. Hei now, do not eye me as though I just said, “I am a homosexual, mum”. By now, you should know that there are some guys who unlike you and me, selflessly sacrifice their time and blood for God. 

The person who came up with this project happens to be the St Paul's Catholic students community chairman. There was a time that he served as the student coordinator at the chaplain. He is entrusted with maintaining the St Pauls's choir website. He proves invaluable when it comes to informing students about group meetings using text messages- a thing that he does in a swift, digitalized and automatic manner. Mr. Martin Mutua Munywoki is his name. Maybe you want to call him 4Ms. Whatever you will, he doesn't mind--as long as your name-calling does not soil his spectacles. He treasures them that much.

The interview

Ladies and gentlemen, put your hands together for the one and only Martin Mutua Munywoki. Men, thump your feet in applause. Ladies, form a queue to hug this guy-one lady at a time. I said ONE LADY AT A TIME. He loves hugs. Maybe, you could call him a 'huggies boy'.

The humble gentleman he is.

Hate turns to reverence

I first met Munywoki in 2010 in a programming class at the university (while we were still freshmen). He was a short guy, with a funny oblong head and spectacles that never left his eyes even during swimming. Munywoki was what one would call a geek. He seemed to know everything about what we were learning in programming and would at times correct the lecturer. Yes, the boy was that audacious. 

Of course his ingenuity did not augur well with our egos. Personally, let me confess this; I loathed him. The entire class detested his brilliance. He made us feel as though we were half-baked pies straight from bush high schools while he schooled with the crème de la crème in some exclusive posh high school.

However, our hatred for him was not long lasting. It swiftly melted away when we realized that the boy was humble and ready to show us how to program. Now, do not think that he gave us quail eggs for our heads to open up for programming. Nay, those bullshit things were not there by then. He wouldn't believe in them either.

Martin went to the extent of assisting us in coding our programming assignments. Sigh. At last the devil had turned to be a godsend.

His first kiss. With a computer, I mean

Before interviewing this geek, I thought that he first saw computers at a very tender age. How wrong I was! Munywoki first set his eyes on a computer in 2005 in form one at the prestigious Starehe boys high school. However, together with his twin brother (Chrispus Munywoki), they had for long been discussing computers in some dusty arid Ukambani area even before they set their eyes on any. They would regale to each other tales of programs that they would code once they set their hands on a computer.

Once they touched down at Starehe grounds, they toiled and moiled tirelessly to quench their technological thirst. Their goal was to amass as much information about computers before spreading this computing gospel.

The computer teachers at Starehe were quick to note the passion shown by the twins. Luckily, the two boys were slotted in a stream that intensely taught computing. The boys, on their own accord, learnt so much programming that the computer teachers would at times consult them.

After form four, the two boys did a B.I.T course at the same institution. They felt that the computing they had accumulated within the four years in high school was not enough. They needed more than that.

Later on, Martin joined the university of Nairobi for a Bsc. Actuarial science degree while Chrispus went majuu for a Computer Software engineering course. It is not that Martin's passion for computers had abated. No, the computer, he says forms an integral part of his life. Without it, he is lifeless. Nay, I made that up. Without a computer, Martin is computerless. That sounds better.

A man of no mean feat

Before he embarked on typing choir books for St. Paul's, Munywoki and his twin brother worked on choir editions for their home parish. Other feathers in these boys' cap is some media player program they made in form three. Methinks the media player was called 'The Munywoki musical'.

The two also designed a Swahili magazine 'Jopo La Kiswahili', a venture that saw him brush shoulders with the likes of Guru Wallah Bin Wallah (that Swahili giant who scared us stiff in primary school for his well written Kiswahili Muftis, you remember him?), Kw Wamitila and Kithaka wa Mberia.

Pastimes and inspirations

Munywoki in his free time

When Munywoki is relaxed, you will most probably get him listening to choir music, facebooking or taking photos on his camera. Munywoki confided that he is most inspired by results. When his funny oblong head hatches an idea, he will work on it till he sees results. Sometimes, this has seen him trans-night or go for long hours without food. When he mentioned this, I could not help but draw a similarity between him and Guru Wallah Bin Wallah who thinks that duniani sio mahali pa kulala.

Martin likes working alone. Not that he is a lone ranger. Nay. Neither is he prickly. Working with so many people he says, may derail him. He would rather work on intense projects solely before submitting the results to the rest of the team for reproach and corrections. He couples his love for working alone with the fact that not most people would stomach the idea of working till the wee hours of the night in the company of a bespectacled geek who seems to be inspired by insomnia and hunger.

Future productions

Were it not for his demanding university course, Munywoki would be working on his Swahili website www.gafkosoft.com. Here, the twins discuss weighty Swahili ideologies. We are soon likely to get an online Swahili Kamusi introduced by the twins. This ladies and gentlemen, will be the first in the history of Swahili. Wapi nduru? May God bless the twins in their noble endeavours.