The Worst of Kalaki and the Best of Yuss

In 2004, it was widely reported in the British and Zambian press that Roy Clarke, columnist and satirist known as ‘Kalaki’, on the The Post, Zambia’s major independent daily, faced deportation. Following a column entitled ‘Mfuwe’, the government had announced he was ‘a threat to peace and good order’. Clarke refused to succumb however, or indeed apologise. Instead, supported by his editor, he continued to champion the freedom of the press in Zambia, freedom of expression in general and the cause of Zambian journalism.

This book brings together a collection of Clarke’s writings, published over a period of five years. His writings are characterised by irony, satire and caustic wit, exposing folly, vice and hypocrisy. They are accompanied by the political cartoons of Trevor Ford, popularly know as ‘Yuss’. Fred M’Membe, editor of The Post, provides the introduction to the book, in which he comments:

‘Nowadays we find ourselves stuck in a culture of zealous worship of leaders, a culture that would look primitive in the eyes of our ancestors. Our modern African societies have established a reputation for intolerance that is difficult to match....I see Roy’s work as attempting to confront this situation, to help us return to our more tolerant Zambian culture; a culture of liberating, life-giving and enjoyable laughter!’