Catalogue       Group                                          A side/B side                                                        Language

Number

Ndicu 1        Ruengo Brothers                 Niwega Kamaru/Thina Niumaguo

Ndicu 2        Rwengo Brothers                 Mugunda Ni Eka Imwe/Grace

Ndicu 7        Rwengo Brothers                 Mary Mama/Thi-Ikuuo Na Mugoto

Ndicu 8        Rwengo Brothers                 Nonginya Turiote/Mihango

Produced and performed by the band led by John Ndicu, a Kikuyu artist who also recorded for Mercury and other labels. These date, I think, from the mid 1980s. The spelling of the band’s name on Ndici 1 is as it is spelled on the record itself.

According to Popular Music Censorship in Africa by Michael Drewett and Martin Cloonan, Ndichu fell foul of the Kenyan authorities with the song, Nonginya Turiote (We Must Be Consumed by the Hot Sunshine) released as Ndicu 8. It described poverty and unemployment as threats to the survival of ordinary people. Considered by the censors to be “the voice of discouragement” it was banned in December, 1987.

The label, “Grandma Wagakunga” is named after one of Ndichu’s biggest hits, a hymn of praise to his grandmother who raised him after his parents had died. That record was released on the Lulus label.