Every Sunday night, I tuned in to a show on NTV called #TWENDE, where Elshaphan Njora, the main character, goes hiking in different places and documents them. Last Sunday, he visited the Mt Kenya Forest, and to hike around the area, he had to be accompanied by a KFS (Kenya Forest Service) Ranger.
When they got to the forest's depths, the ranger slowed Njora down. He claimed that he had seen fresh faecal matter, therefore, there had to be an animal nearby. The faecal matter was in pellets; consequently, it had to be a herbivore. That was some relief, as it could've been gravely dangerous if the animal were a carnivore. I mean, we wouldn't have had the chance to watch the footage since it wouldn't have gotten to us either way.
Njora and the ranger tiptoed behind the trees, till they got to the nearby clearing, and peering over some logs of wood, they saw a brown-humped animal. It was then that the ranger gleaned and exclaimed that they had spotted a rare animal.
Upon inquiry, Njora was informed that the animal was a bongo.
Bongo. That suddenly got me thinking about how many different African things generally bear that name. In this article, I've tried to stretch my imagination and find them out.
The Kenyan Antelope
The bongos are one of the largest forest antelopes. The difference in their coat from that of the other antelope species is that they have a deep chestnut colour (which becomes mahogany as they age), with bright white stripes.
Figure 1: Bongo Antelope
The bongos are divided into two; the western bongo and the mountain bongo. The mountain bongos are only found in the mountainous regions of Central Kenya, which include the Mt Kenya and the Aberdares region.
The bongos are mostly nocturnal, and if they appear during the day, they are usually timid and easily frightened; therefore they run away at high speeds.
Tanzanian Music Genre
Every year, when Google releases their annual report on the most viewed video on YouTube, Diamond Platnumz's music videos have to top the list. There has always been a debate on why Tanzanian music is popular in Kenya, even to the point of trumping Kenyan music. What is this genre? And why is it so good?
Bongo is the Tanzanian genre that developed in the 1990s, mainly as a blend between American Hip-hop and traditional Tanzanian music styles such as taarab and dansi.
The term, however, came up in 1981, when a musician, Remmy Ongala started a band called Matimila, and then named their music style 'Bongo'.
In Swahili, the name 'bongo' simply means 'brains'.
After that, some of the youth in Dar-es-Salaam picked up the sound and started rapping on the beaches in the 90s.
This went on, and now we've seen popular artists like Diamond Platnumz, Harmonize, Jux, Ali Kiba, Mbosso, Zuchu, Mwana FA etc.
Gabonese President
On 30th August 2023, Africa woke up to a 51-second video of former Gabon President Ali Bongo in his living room, crying to his friends all over the world to be vocal about the situation in his country.
Figure 2: Ali Bongo
In the video, he was heard saying:
“I'm to send a message to all friends that we have all over the world to tell them to make noise for the people here have arrested me and my family. My son is somewhere, my wife is in another place and I'm at the residence. Right now I'm at the residence and nothing is happening, I don't know what's going on so I'm calling you to make noise, make noise, make noise really, I'm begging you."
It turns out that he and his family were under house arrest. This happened just 4 days after he was declared the winner in the presidential elections, with 64% of the votes, securing a third seven-year term.
The military considered the victory illegitimate, hence the need to depose him. He spent a week under house arrest, before the military officers released him on September 7th, giving him a chance to go and seek medical assistance abroad, but having forfeited the presidential seat.
That brought to an end the family's 53-year-long rule. Before him, his father Omar Bongo was Gabon's 2nd President, ruling the country from 1967 to 2009, when he passed away. Ali Bongo took this chance to pick up the reins and won the elections with 42% of the votes.
Albeit claiming that he did not inherit the seat, all his victories have been marred by illegitimacy claims. Members of the opposition as well as the civil society tried raising qualms about the issue, but they all hit a brick wall.
It was only in 2023, thanks to the military, that the music of Bongo stopped playing.
LANGUAGE OF THE WEEK
Bongo also known as Dor is a language spoken in Bahr al Ghazal in South Sudan by the Bongo people.
Bongo language has approximately 30,000 native speakers.
Additionally, the name 'bongo' is also used to refer to a pair of small drums which have some Afro-Cuban heritage. But does it count in this segment of African things with the name 'Bongo' if, in this case, the name has a Spanish origin?
Figure 3:Bongo drums
Anyway, which other thing do you know that shares the name 'bongo'?
Special Mentions
📌 The Bongo Flava Success Story - Africultures
📌 Gabon's Ali Bongo: The Rise and Fall | Gabon Coup - African Biographics
📌 Tracing the roots of Benga - Oyunga Pala
Special thanks to Keith Angana for contributing to the newsletter.
I'll leave you with some classic Bongo hits by OG Bongo artists.
Enjoy This Newsletter?
Forward it to a friend, and let them know they can subscribe here.
Whenever you need help translating any African language, help is available here.
Remember, it is time to tell our stories.
Till next time.
Join the Lughayangu Community!
