KAGGIA written by John Sibi-Okumu | directed by Stuart Nash
Bildad Kaggia: The Kenya that could have been
Just like many of Kenya’s freedom heroes, Bildad Kaggia stands like an unspoken ritual. He is honoured by history yet ignored by the country he helped liberate. Kaggia did not dine with the colonialists or negotiate for his people’s freedom. He was a fighter, a radical man who believed that independence meant more than just swapping colonial masters for African masters.
As one of the Kapenguria Six, Kaggia came out of prison still with the zeal and conviction to fight for the people. He warned the then Kenyan government, that independence without land redistribution was a betrayal. And what did he get for speaking the truth? Isolation, a poisoning attempt, political exile and poverty. He was branded ungrateful and naive. Kenyatta famously sneered at him: “Kaggia, what have you done for yourself? We were in detention together but look at you. You have nothing”
KAGGIA by John Sibi-Okumu follows Bildad Kaggia’s life from being a humble office clerk in the colonial government in 1940 to his death in 2005, covering the major events throughout his life including his time in detention as one of the Kapenguria 6. Through the characters Xan and Stacey, two documentary film makers who are producing a documentary about Kaggia, John Sibi Okumu retells key events in the freedom fighter’s life, revealing moments that have been erased from the public eye with particular focus on his defiance against betraying the people, what Kaggia’s life turned into after his defiance, why he stepped away from politics and life-long impact of on his wife.
The play also reveals how Kaggia lived a humble life and died poor in Jericho; his legacy buried by politicians who feared his truth. Today, his name is conspicuously absent from our national celebrations and history books while street names, learning institutions, major infrastructure projects and airports are named after wealthy politicians; John Sibi Okumu’s play ensures that Kaggia’s story is not completely erased from our history.
Kaggia’s story is rarely told in full. At best, he’s a line in a schoolbook. At worst, he’s forgotten. But this October, his voice is returning to the stage. John Sibi-Okumu’s play Kaggia — directed by Stuart Nash — runs at the Kenya National Theatre from October 11–19, in both English and Kikuyu. It’s not just a history lesson, it’s a reckoning.
Nash, who has directed everything from The Trial of Dedan Kimathi to Sarafina, calls Kaggia one of the most important Kenyan plays he’s ever seen. It is bilingual, grounded in Kikuyu as much as English, reminding us that the language of liberation was never just colonial. The production is layered, urgent, and, most importantly, Kenyan.
Kaggia died poor, but not defeated. His refusal to “do something for himself” has been written out of national celebrations, while the names of the wealthy and the powerful adorn our maps. This play refuses that silence. It restores him to the conversation, not as a saint, but as a symbol of integrity in a country still wrestling with corruption, inequity, and land.
This is not nostalgia. It’s a mirror. Kaggia doesn’t just look back, it asks you to look around. To see the Kenya we inherited, and the Kenya we might still become.
Through the play, Bildad Kaggia’s life asks a question: “What would Kenya have been if it’s leaders after independence were not corrupt?” A timely question.
John Sibi-Okumu’s play KAGGIA — directed by Stuart Nash — runs at the Kenya National Theatre from October 11–19, in both English and Kikuyu.
Tickets are available on Kenya Buzz.
KAGGIA PRINCIPAL CAST
1: Martin Kigondu – Kaggia
2: Valentine Zikki – Wambui
3: Gadwill Odhiambo – Xan
4: Foi Wambui – Stacey
5: Annastacia Liz – Child Njoki
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