Kakwenza wins Shs185m prize for creative dissent

Novelist Kakwenza Rukirabashaija has won the 2023 Václav Havel International Prize for Creative Dissent. 

The prize not only toasts Mr Kakwenza Shs185m richer but will also add more legible ink to the acclaim of the author who broke literary inkpot with a satirical fiction, The Greedy Barbarian, in 2020.

Creative dissent is a form of art and literature that agitates, provokes and educates using flair and style to transform rage and powerlessness into humorous and creative protests.

Writing to Mr Kakwenza, prize committee chairperson Thor Halvorssen said his work has shown tremendous courage and creativity. 

“We are honoured to invite you to join us in Oslo (Norway) for the prize ceremony and, if you wish, to join us for the duration of the Oslo Freedom Forum,” Halvorssen said.

READ: Kakwenza’s pen gets one over his captors with prestigious award

Usually, the prize is awarded to three people annually. In Oslo tomorrow, Mr Kakwenza will receive Havel Prize’s bronze sculpture depicting the “Goddess of Democracy” – the iconic figure erected by Chinese students during the Tiananmen Square protests in June 1989 – alongside Nicaraguan cartoonist Pedro Molina.

The third prize will be shared by four Ukrainian artists: the late conductor Yuriy Kerpatenko, the “Art Residency in Occupation” project, illustrator Mariia Loniuk, and “Stand Up for Ukraine” performance project.

Each of the laureates will receive $50,000 (Shs185m).

“In the face of oppression and stifling silence, this year’s laureates have chosen to speak the unspoken, echoing Václav Havel’s creativity and courageous spirit,” Halvorssen, who is also chief executive of HRF, said.

Speaking to Monitor, Mr Kakwenza, winner of the PEN 2021 Pinter International Writer of Courage Award, expressed “deep gratitude” to the committee for considering his social protest literature as works “that exemplify the spirit of Václav”.

In his typical no-holds-barred approach, he dangled a few expletives at “idiots” and “fools”, saying the time to criticise the Uganda government has ended. 

“We cannot criticise the same things for 37 years,” said Mr Kakwenza, who has since February last year been living in Germany as a guest of PEN Germany.

Quoting from English novelist Eric Arthur Blair, better known by his pen name George Orwell, Mr Kakwenza said in a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.

“Now is the time to tell them the truth that they are incompetent, pig-headed fools running a country and plunging it into governance imbroglio,” he added.

No retreat, no surrender

Mr Kakwenza, 33, has shown exceptional courage and defiance of the establishment in Uganda despite being imprisoned and tortured three times since 2020 for his irreverent writings.

He splurged his first ink with The Greedy Barbarian, a satirical political fiction about corruption and dictatorship in a fictitious African country. He was abducted from his home in Iganga and held incommunicado for more than two weeks.

Once out, he defiantly wrote his second book, Banana Republic: Where Writing is Treasonous, an account of the torture he was subjected to while in detention – despite ominous warnings from state security not to reveal what transpired during his detention. 

In December 2021, he was again abducted from his home and detained for a month because of his tweets criticising President Museveni and members of his immediate family.  

Mr Kakwenza was released on medical grounds following severe torture but not before being charged with “offensive communication” under the now-quashed Computer Misuse Act. 

In February 2022, he fled to Germany for medical treatment where his family joined him under the roof of PEN Germany.

Mr Kakwenza said a government that terrorises its citizens and forces them into exile should never be recognised anywhere and must be “isolated and forced to collapse”.

“I thank my hosts PEN-Deutschland, and my prime advocates PEN International for always defending my freedom to write every time the state would manacle and dehumanise me for using literature to shine light into their hell-holes of impunity,” he said.

Mr Kakwenza, who has since published The Savage Avenger, his third installment of critical literature, paid tribute to his fellow laureates, family and lawyer Eron Kiiza.

Mr Kiiza said the things for which dictators torture their people like creative dissent are treasures civilised society cherishes, recognises and rewards. 

“We need more bold Ugandans like Kakwenza willing to stand up to and call out dictatorship,” he said.

The Havel Prize takes Mr Kakwenza’s literary acclaim beyond the realm he could have imagined when he first printed a few copies of “The Greedy Barbarian” as a self-publisher three years ago.

The prize has previously been awarded to Chinese artist Ai Weiwei, Russian punk rock protest group Pussy Riot, Rwandan gospel musician and activist Kizito Mihigo, South Sudanese activist and musician Emmanuel Jal, among others.

Other winners

• Nicaraguan Pedro Molina was forced into exile on Christmas Day 2018 after police killed a journalist, jailed two others, and ransacked the offices of El Confidencial, the digital newspaper that featured his biting caricatures of President Daniel Ortega and his tyranny.

• Ukranian Yuriy Kerpatenko was a renowned musician and principal conductor of the Kherson Regional Philharmonic. In October 2022, Russian troops assassinated Kerpatenko in his home after he refused to conduct a concert under the rule of Russian invading forces in Kherson.

• Art Residency in Occupation is an underground art society created by curator Yuliia Manukian. During the occupation of Kherson, six resident artists secretly met in a basement studio at the initiative of Manukian to produce works that showcase the death and destruction in the southern city, offering viewers an opportunity to understand the scope of the war.

• Mariia Loniuk is a Ukrainian freelance artist specialising in digital art. Since the invasion of Ukraine, Loniuk has created vivid and touching illustrations about the war, conveying the feelings and images Ukrainians face. Her drawings capture the devastation of cities, homes, and human lives, the ubiquity of death and suffering.

• Stand Up for Ukraine is a project that brings people together through the universal language of music, reminding us that art has the ability to transcend boundaries, challenge oppressive ideologies, and ignite a collective spirit of solidarity.