Wema Hawajazaliwa

The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born is a novel by Ghanaian writer Ayi Kwei Armah. It was published in English in 1968 and here in Swahili. The book tells the story of a nameless man who struggles to reconcile himself with the reality of post-independence Ghana. The unnamed protagonist, referred to as "the man" works at a railway station and is approached with a bribe; when he refuses, his wife is furious and he can't help feeling guilty despite his innocence. The novel expresses the frustration many citizens of the newly-independent states in Africa felt after attaining political independence. Many African states like Ghana followed similar paths in which corruption and the greed of African elites became rampant. Corruption in turn filtered down to the rest of society and the 'rot' that characterized post-independent Ghana in the last years of Nkrumah is a dominant theme in the book.