Biography
Once in a generation, a man or a woman with unfathomable courage rises and dedicates his life to bettering humanity, in total disregard of his safety or comfort.
From the most unlikely places one such man with a capacity to make the country stand still and listen is Boniface Mwangi. This man, curated from a boy who was subjected to unspeakable human rights violations but never succumbed or lost focus, instead projected his voice and deployed all his skills to highlight the ills bedeviling society as he saw them.
The world, which had initially ignored him as a boy, can no longer afford to do so today, for he has joined the ranks of those shaping the world through his camera’s lenses.
Born in 1983, the self-made Mwangi—mistakenly christened “Softie” by peers who underrated him—had to wait tables in kiosks in exchange for leftovers, charm snake charmers to earn rent as a teenager, but ultimately earned diplomas before he graduated from secondary school. Today, he routinely gives talks in the most prestigious schools in the world.
Mwangi’s immutable voice has brought down walls of injustice built by authoritarian kleptomanias. So forceful and persuasive is Mwangi that President Barrack Obama paused to read his story and was so moved that he even agreed to write a foreword for one of his books, UnBounded. Former Secretary of State and US First Lady, Hillary Clinton, was equally moved by Mwangi’s stunning photography and talent.
This man, who redefined how campaigns are done in Kenya by soliciting funding from the common man in the street through crowdsourcing rather than offering handouts to voters, has figuratively seen it all. From winning continental journalism awards to being hauled to police cells for speaking truth to power by shouting down former President Mwai Kibaki, Mwangi has seen it all.
His courage, just like his creativity, knows no bounds, just as his passion for freedom knows not national boundaries. It is on account of his empathy for freedom and loathing for tyranny that he was abducted and tortured by a combined effort of Kenyan and Tanzanian authorities when he went to monitor Tundu Lissu's treason case. To Kenyan authorities, Mwangi is a “terrorist” who must be confined and contained at whatever cost. But to compatriots like former Chief Justice Willy Mutunga, he is a youthful rebel and revolutionary determined to overthrow the global status quo. His selflessness and sacrifice, according to acclaimed South African songstress Yvonne Chaka Chaka, place him among a rare breed of journalists who disregard their safety and comfort so that the world can be a better place.
At times, Mwangi’s bravery is confused for “careless” patriotism, as Principal Magistrate Samson Temu cautioned even as he warned the activist not to risk his life fighting for Kenya because the country would fight for itself.
This is the man who now wants to be Kenya’s next president. It will be interesting to see how he will navigate this space as he soldiers on with his cause for defending freedom and good governance for all, guided by Ukweli (the truth). Is Kenya ready for this man, his truth, and his courage?
