Privilege. This word is ingrained in Isaiah I.C. Wakindiki’s very being, shaping his identity. He does not play down his skills or blessings, but presents them as fully earned, while also identifying with the streets he grew up on in Irundini village, Mukothima, Tharaka Nithi.
He plays the greatest hits from that album. Growing up Methodist. There were lorries that would screen movies in the village square. ‘Every two weeks,’ he says, ‘We would have mobile library services and use our library cards to borrow books.’ Little wonder then, to reach for a trite metaphor, that his family is full of professors, he is the Vice Chancellor of KCA University himself.
Yet his younger brother is now the Deputy President of Kenya, and seeing that he, too, fiddled with politics, does he ever get jealous of him? After all, envy is the most prevalent human emotion. ‘No,’ he says, ‘How can I be jealous of God’s favour? It’s a privilege.’
For Prof Wakindiki, more than just a bean-counting vice-chancellor, life’s joy is walking around and people calling him, ‘Mwalimu.’ Teacher. You can tell because for every answer, he cites an example.
Prof, tell me something cool about yourself.
When I was young, I had measles. My mum took me to a hospital about 20km away, and by the time we got there, I was reeking. I was covered in flies, the nurse said, ‘This child is dead. Go and bury him.’ I was not dead. And that was my first resurrection.
Do you think you’re a lucky person?
No, there’s no luck. But to sit here is a privilege. It’s not luck. My parents are alive, and that’s privilege, not luck.
What do you mean by ‘privilege’?
I’ve had privileges in life, not lucky. My family and my both my parents are still alive. Having gone to school and succeeded, I think that’s a privilege. So I see myself as a beneficiary of privileges.
On the subject of this office, what’s the least VC-like thing you’ve done lately?
I am not conventional, because, often, when we become too conventional, we miss the details. Currently, we are having student elections, and they keep calling me or getting my attention as VC, but I refuse to intervene because they have their own electoral body. Let them sort out their issues as students. My role is to facilitate.
What’s boring about being you?
Being forced to behave in certain ways, contrary to my beliefs. What did you ask me?
The boring part about being you.
Oh, yes. I get bored because of things like the many governance organs we have in the university. I’m not the ultimate. And there’s nothing ultimate in this world. Even the President is answerable to the people, so it’s a cycle.
I am impatient with people who condone mediocrity. As I’m saying, this is a position of privilege, and as vice-chancellor, my decisions should improve people’s lives and livelihoods. Not me.
When we think about the world you occupy right now from the outside, we only see academic gowns and suits. Where do you go when you want to be just Isaiah?
I like spending time with my family. My biological family. I also belong to a religious group called the Methodist Church. I’m a lay preacher there. In my neighbourhood, we have a third layer of family, and we meet once in a while, like presently we are working on the water supply in the area.
That’s a very media-trained answer.
Haha!
What are you secretly good at?
I’m a very empathetic person, despite my privileges. Because if it were not for some interventions in my life, I could be a resident of Mathare Area 4. There’s nothing I could have done about it. If it were not for the privileges I had along the way, I could be in Kibera. I hope that is not media trained [chuckles].