Colonial Government Periodicals in 1920s East Africa: Mambo Leo and Habari

The chapter focuses on government periodicals produced for African readerships in 1920s East Africa: Mambo Leo in Tanganyika and Habari in Kenya. These periodicals, on the one hand, attempted to establish colonial power and legitimacy. On the other hand, they were forums in which African writers could participate and develop anti-colonial critiques. Mambo Leo was published by Tanganyika’s Department of Education, and Habari was published initially by the Department of Native Affairs and then by the Education Department. Both periodicals carried articles on health advice and agricultural practices; both stressed the benefits of British rule; both published folk stories; and both invited readers to think of themselves as citizens of a British Empire. As to the differences, Mambo Leo had the larger circulation (9,000 as against 3–5000 for Habari). Mambo Leo was also published entirely in Swahili, whereas Habari published two columns, one in English, the other in Swahili. Although both invited reader contributions, Mambo Leo gave more space to contributors not employed by the newspaper. Challenging the assumption that government African-language publications always reproduced colonial ideology, the chapter argues that both periodicals succeeded in building a community of readers who shaped the contents of their pages.