200 years ago, a 12-year old boy was trapped by slave catchers, chained, and forced
on a four-month trek from the shores of Lake Malawi to Kilwa and loaded on slave ships
as cargo for the bustling slave markets of Zanzibar. The ship carrying Songoro did not
reach Zanzibar. It was intercepted in the high seas by the British Navy, and the freed
slaves settled in Frere Town in Mombasa, Kenya.

This is a story of four generations — the descendants of Songoro the freed slave, his
son Noah whose fortunes in the colonial government carved a path of family progress,
and the modern hero, a great-grandson: Edgar Manasseh, who scaled uncertain paths
to become the first Commissioner-General, Kenya Revenue Authority.

It is a marvel of triumph over adversity on the backdrop of historical transitions, from
slave trade in pre-colonial East African coast to the turbulence of colonial rule, from the
complexities of independence struggles to the bittersweet fortunes of a modernizing
Kenya.