Ngugi Wa Thiong’o’s treatment of Hypocrisy and Deception in Wizard of the Crow

Abstract

This essay centres on abuse of democratic tenets with particular reference to Kenya, which typifies experiences of many Africa democracies and beyond. It reveals the twin evils of hypocrisy and deception as tools used by dictators to deflect the citizenry’s attention from forming a formidable opposition. It captures the activities of unflinching loyalists or henchmen of abused system; with a strand of deception leading to the government deceiving the governed, deception and wrangling among inner-circle caucus_ each snitching and betraying one another_ collegial rivalry: a top-down effect with the self-ambitious-dictator-leader as the chief hypocrite who is good at fabrications and lies. The paper argues that silence is not golden in the face of governmental excesses and oppression as exemplified in the activities and advocacies of the protagonists; Kamiti and Nyawira in lending their voices against despotic government by spearheading defiant protests