Mama Luka is one of several songs inspired by me and my family’s four-year residency in the Lang’ata area of Nairobi, and more specifically Otiende Estate, where families including my own lived in the shadow of broken dreams. We felt, along with most of Nairobi, how the promise made to the independence generation of owning a home, had faded away.

In the late 60s under the auspices of the Presbyterian Church of East Africa and the African Inland Church, families working for the civil service were offered the opportunity to purchase a home. They each volunteered a family member to be part of the building process. No one knew which house would be theirs. Every house was built with love and the hope of this new dawn. The completed houses were allotted by lottery and families moved in to experience this independence dream like no other- 2 bedroom bungalows with a living room, kitchen, indoor plumbing, low cypress hedges, flowers, a back garden, neighbourhood playgrounds, shops, clinics and schools.

But within a couple of decades many of the residents were forced out of their jobs in the civil service and their pensions were stolen. There was a housing deficit in Nairobi and soon ageing pensioners started building tenements in their back gardens for some additional income. Running water and garbage collection became a thing of the past. The standards in the neighbourhood schools dropped and playgrounds were grabbed. Clinics ran out of medicine. Hedges turned into fences.

This song is a song of blessing for that generation and says:

May you have many days of grace
Many days of respect
May your streams never run dry
May your cattle always give you milk
And may your pastures thrive

Song Credits
Written by Eric Wainaina and Vincent Ngugi
Lead vocals by Eric Wainaina
Choir section by Kendi Nkonge-Mohol, Lisa Odour-Noah, Wambura Mitaru, Manasseh Shalom, Vincent Ngugi, Timothy Arinaitwe, Matt Ngesa, Charity Nyambura, Seben Mwaniki & Mbogua Mbugua Mbugua
Acoustic guitar by Timothy Arinaitwe
Electric guitar by Benjamin Kabaseke
Keys by Victor Kimetto
Produced by Eric Wainaina and Mbogua Mbugua Mbugua
Recorded and produced at Rainmaker Studios, Kajiado, Kenya
Mixed by Mbogua Mbugua Mbugua
Mastered by Tim Lengfeld and Rushab Nandha, TL Mastering, Stellenbosch, South Africa


Artwork by Akili Huru
Photography by Kimathi Njoki