” present Kenya as a inviting land for all, ignoring that many visitors come from former colonial and current neocolonial nations that cause endemic issues for contemporary Kenya. It is taught to Swahili learners and sung by Kenyans to welcome tourists. Not to be jaded, just to be thoughtful.Ī 1982 pop hit, “Jambo Bwana” is the most recognizable Kenyan song outside the country. But, before your rose-colored glasses get too rosy, I just want to throw out a few ideas. “Hakuna Matata” is a simplified/pidginized form of “no problems,” usually used with tourists.Ĭhorus of the song “Jambo Bwana” by Them Mushrooms, lyrics and translation Reflections for Foreigners Mwakaribishwa is a cool grammatical form (using both the passive and casuative affixes) of the verb root “karibu” (welcome). Wageni is the plural form of “mgeni,” meaning visitor/guest. Habari is a common Swahili greeting, literally meaning “news.” * Bwana has a more complicated meaning than just “sir” - we’ll talk about that in the next section. Let’s go through the lyrics to “Jambo Bwana,” with translations of what they mean, and some notes to help with your Swahili language-learning.

Since that first album, Them Mushrooms has continued making and releasing music since then, with a grand total over 16+ albums (the most recent in 2015). The song “Jambo Bwana” was written by the Kenyan band “ Them Mushrooms,” and released in 1982. Jambo Bwana is such an ubiquitous song that some people think it’s just a “folk song,” traditional and attributable to nobody - but that would be incorrect. Who Wrote “Jambo Bwana?” (Them Mushrooms) Who Wrote “Jambo Bwana?” (Them Mushrooms).

Bwana meaning