Alfons Loogman (1897‐1964)

Abstract In 1925 Alfons Loogman, a Holy Ghost Father, established the Catholic Swahili monthly paper Rafiki Yetu (‘Our Friend’) in Kenya. In the literature little is known about this journal, although it developed into the most important Catholic Swahili journal of East Africa. Loogman did not get much support of the apostolic vicar and his confreres for his initiative, so the publication of the journal became a personal enterprise. Rafiki Yetu was targeting a broad public, not only Catholics but all African inhabitants of East Africa, no matter their faith. The content of the journal was a mixture of religious and secular topics. The journal had a wide circulation in Kenia, Tanganyika, Zanzibar and Uganda. In contrast to two other Catholic papers, Rafiki Yetu was published in Swahili, the lingua franca of East Africa. Loogman developed the Rafiki Yetu enterprise into a small printing press. However, Loogman could not realise his dreams of publishing a weekly or even a daily journal because he was transferred to another vicariate and other missionaries continued publishing Rafiki Yetu until 1964.