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Ngugi wa Thiong’o, who died aged 87, was a titan of modern African literature – a storyteller who refused to be bound by jail and exile. His work spanned roughly six decades, primarily documenting the transformation of his country – Kenya – from a colonial subject to a democracy. Ngugi was tipped to win the Nobel Prize for literature countless times, leaving fans dismayed each time the medal slipped through his fingers. His family last week announced he had died in the United States (US) following a long illness. The writer’s daughter, Wanjiku wa Ngugi, said in a Facebook post: “It is with a heavy heart that we announce the death of our dad, Ngugi wa Thiong’o, this Wednesday morning, 28 May 2025. “He lived a full life, fought a good fight. As was his last wish, let’s celebrate his life and his work.” Ngugi will be remembered not only as a Nobel-worthy writer, but also as a fierce proponent of literature written in native African languages. His life began in 1938, when Kenya was under British colonial rule. Ngugi went by the English name James and grew up at the town of Limuru, among a large family of low-income agricultural workers. His parents scrimped and saved to pay for his tuition at Alliance, a boarding school run by British missionaries. In an interview, Ngugi recalled returning home from Alliance at the end of term to find his entire village had been razed by the colonial authorities. His family members were among the hundreds and thousands forced to live in detention camps during a crackdown on the Mau Mau, a movement of independence fighters. The Mau Mau uprising, which lasted from 1952 to 1960, touched Ngugi’s life in numerous, devastating ways. In one of the most crushing, Ngugi’s brother, Gitogo, was fatally shot in the back for refusing to comply with a British soldier’s command. Gitogo had not heard the command because he was deaf. In 1959, as the British struggled to maintain their grip on Kenya, Ngu˜gi˜ left to study in Uganda. He enrolled at Makerere University, which remains one of Africa’s most prestigious universities. During a writers’ conference at Makerere, Ngugi shared the manuscript for his debut novel with revered Nigerian author Chinua Achebe. Achebe forwarded the manuscript to his publisher in the United Kingdom (UK) and the book, ‘Weep Not, Child’, was released to critical acclaim in 1964. It was the first major English-language novel to be written by an East African. Ngugi swiftly followed up with two more popular novels, ‘A Grain of Wheat’ and ‘The River Between’. In 1972, the UK’s The Times newspaper said Ngugi, then aged 33, was “accepted as one of Africa’s outstanding contemporary writers”. Then came 1977 – a period that marked a huge change in Ngugi’s life and career. For starters, this was the year he became Ngugi wa Thiong’o and shed his English first name, James. Ngugi made the change as he wanted a name free of colonial influence. He also dropped English as the primary language for his literature and vowed to only write in his mother tongue, Kikuyu. He published his last English language novel, ‘Petals of Blood’, in 1977. Ngugi’s previous books had been critical of the colonial state, but ‘Petals of Blood’ attacked the new leaders of independent Kenya, portraying them as an elite class who had betrayed ordinary Kenyans. Ngugi didn’t stop there. The same year, he co-wrote the play ‘Ngaahika Ndeenda’ (I Will Marry When I Want), which was a searing look at Kenya’s class struggle. Its theatre run was shut down by the government of then president Jomo Kenyatta and Ngugi was locked up in a maximum security jail for a year without trial. It was a fruitful 12 months, however, as Ngugi wrote his first Kikuyu novel, ‘Devil on the Cross’, while in prison. It is said he used toilet paper to write the entire book, as he did not have access to a notebook. Ngugi was released after Daniel Moi replaced Kenyatta as president. Ngugi said four years later, while in London for a book launch, he learnt there was a plot to kill him on his return to Kenya. He began a self-imposed exile in the UK and then the US. He did not return to Kenya for 22 years. When he finally did return, he received a hero’s welcome – thousands of Kenyans turned out to greet him. But the homecoming was marred when assailants broke into Ngugi’s apartment, brutally attacking the author and raping his wife. Ngugi insisted the assault was “political”. He returned to the US, where he had held professorships at universities including Yale, New York and California Irvine. In academia and beyond, Ngugi became known as one of the foremost advocates of literature written in African languages. Throughout his career – and to this day – African literature was dominated by books written in English or French, official languages in most countries on the continent. “What is the difference between a politician who says Africa cannot do without imperialism and the writer who says Africa cannot do without European languages?” Ngugi asked in a seminal, fiery essay collection, named ‘Decolonising the Mind’. In one section, Ngugi called out Achebe – the author who helped to launch his career – for writing in English. Their friendship soured as a result. Away from his literary career, Ngugi was married – and divorced – twice. He had nine children, four of whom are published authors. “My own family has become one of my literary rivals,” Ngugi joked in a 2020 LA Times interview. His son, Mukoma wa Ngugi, has alleged that his mother was physically abused by Ngugi. “Some of my earliest memories are me going to visit her at my grandmother’s where she would seek refuge,” his son wrote in a social media post, which Ngugi did not respond to. Later in his life, Ngugi’s health deteriorated. He had triple heart bypass surgery in 2019 and began to struggle with kidney failure. In 1995, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer and given three months to live. Ngugi recovered, however, adding cancer to the lengthy list of struggles he had overcome. But now one of African literature’s guiding lights – as Nigerian writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie once called him – is gone, leaving the world of words a little darker. – BBC The post Giant of African literature Ngugi waThiong’o remembered as fierce writer appeared first on The Namibian.

No African writer has as many major, lasting creative achievements in such a wide range of genres as Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o.

As the curtain falls on the remarkable life of professor Ngugi wa Thiong’o, Africa and the world bid farewell not just to a prolific novelist, but to a fearless advocate for African self-determination. Ngugi’s legacy is carved not only in the pages of his globally acclaimed novels, but in the fierce convictions he held about language, identity, and cultural freedom. Language as Resistance Ngugi stood tall among Africa’s leading thinkers because he dared to challenge the colonial foundations of African thought. He was among the first to openly reject the dominance of English in African literature, boldly choosing to write in his native Kikuyu language. His belief was clear: African stories are best told in African languages. His celebrated work, ‘Decolonising the Mind’, remains one of the most important intellectual texts of our time – a clarion call for Africans to reclaim their narratives, rewrite their histories, and break the mental chains left by colonial rule. Ngugi didn’t just talk about liberation – he embodied it. He remained unwavering in his mission: to centre African voices and restore pride in African heritage through language and storytelling. From Cultural to Economic Liberation As we honour Ngugi’s legacy, we must go beyond literary celebration. The deeper message in his work resonates profoundly with the continent’s economic struggles today. Just as he fought for intellectual and cultural freedom, so too must we pursue economic emancipation. True decolonisation must go beyond the mind – it must transform how Africa trades, produces, and prospers. Today, Africa finds itself trapped in an outdated and imbalanced economic model. Despite vast natural resources and the world’s youngest population, the continent remains heavily dependent on external markets. Intra-African trade accounts for only 15% of the continent’s total trade, starkly contrasting with Europe’s 75% and North America’s 60%. This reflects a colonial legacy of economic fragmentation, where African countries continue to export raw materials while importing expensive finished goods, replicating patterns of extraction and dependence. Even as we trade with Western countries, it is crucial that Africa pursues balanced trade relationships – win-win partnerships that respect African value and promote mutual growth. This balance will ensure Africa benefits fully from its resources while fostering external partnerships that support long-term, sustainable development. AfCFTA: Our Economic Destiny The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) represents the most ambitious step yet toward changing this paradigm. With its potential to unite over 1.4 billion people into a single market, AfCFTA could become Africa’s long-awaited economic liberation movement – an opportunity to create continental value chains, promote industrialisation, and retain wealth within Africa. But the promise of AfCFTA is yet to be fully realised. Bureaucratic red tape, policy incoherence, and slow implementation by member states continue to delay its impact. Without decisive leadership and political will, the dream of intra-African trade risks becoming another beautiful idea stalled on paper. For AfCFTA to work, we must cut through the inefficiencies. We must simplify customs procedures, harmonise trade policies, invest in infrastructure, and digitise trade platforms. Otherwise, we will remain a continent that talks about integration but lives in division. Completing Ngugi’s Vision Ngugi taught us that liberation begins with the mind – but it cannot end there. Economic decolonisation is the next step. At the same time, pursuing economic decolonisation does not mean rejecting all external partnerships. Instead, Africa must engage with the global economy on terms that ensure mutual benefit, equity, and respect for African agency. Balanced trade relations with Western countries – where both sides benefit and grow – will be key to Africa’s long-term prosperity. Ngugi’s legacy challenges us to think bigger – not only about reclaiming language and culture, but about owning our economies. He passed us the baton. What we do with it now defines the next chapter of African history. Writing Africa’s Future In his honour, let us not only read his books: we must live his message. Let us build the infrastructure that connects our cities, the digital corridors that empower our youth, and the legal frameworks that make trade between African states easier, faster, and more profitable. Let us not mourn Ngugi’s death with silence. Let us respond with action. Let us write, trade, build, and rise – not as 55 divided countries, but as one united continent ready to claim its place in the world. Ngugi has handed us the pen. The ink is in our hands. It is now our duty to write Africa’s next chapter – one of unity, prosperity, and full economic decolonisation. His ideals live on through his children, including my longtime friend Tee Ngugi, a writer and intellectual in his own right, who was a media and communication lecturer for many years at the Namibia University of Science and Technology. – Elvis Mboya is the president of the Namibia-Kenya Chamber of Commerce and a former journalist in Namibia and Kenya. The post Ngugi wa Thiong’o: The Case for Economic Decolonisation appeared first on The Namibian.

[Namibian] The Kenyan writer Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, who was censored, imprisoned and forced into exile by the dictator Daniel arap Moi, a perennial contender for the Nobel prize for literature and one of few writers working in an indigenous African language, has died aged 87.

Kenya's literary giant Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, who died at 87, revolutionized African literature by championing indigenous languages over colonial English. His radical shift from English to Gikuyu challenged Western literary dominance and redefined postcolonial identity.

Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o se entregó a la batalla cultural por la descolonización mental de los pueblos oprimidos...

Former speaker of parliament Peter Katjavivi has paid an emotional tribute to celebrated Kenyan writer Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, who died on 28 May at the age of 87. “It is with a deep sense of sorrow and sadness that I learnt of the passing of a dear friend and renowned leading novelist, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o,” Katjavivi says. He also reflects on his friendship with the famed decoloniality author whose career spanned nearly six decades. Their first encounter came in 1967, during a solidarity tour of Syria, Lebanon and Egypt. “I met him for the first time as part of a group of dedicated writers and activists… to experience firsthand the suffering caused by armed conflict,” he says. Katjavivi, representing Swapo, was joined by other liberation movements, including South Africa’s African National Congress and the Palestinian Liberation Organisation. “The workshop attracted renowned writers from across the world like Ngũgĩ and activists, among whom was the distinguished writer Ruth First.” In 1982, the two met again at Oxford University. “He gave us a personally signed copy of his famous book, ‘Devil on the Cross’. He dedicated the copy. . . to the war memories we shared earlier in Lebanon and Damascus,” Katjavivi says. The novel, written in prison on sheets of toilet paper, marked a turning point in Ngũgĩ’s literary journey. “’Devil on the Cross’ particularly stands out because it was his last novel written in English before he fully committed to writing in his native Gikuyu language as a form of literary resistance.” Katjavivi also describes Ngũgĩ as “one of the giants whose powerful pen elevated him to one of the top African writers of his generation.” “We bid him farewell with warm hearts,” he says. “May his soul rest in eternal peace.” The post Katjavivi pays tribute to Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o appeared first on The Namibian.

Wa Thiong’o was widely regarded as East Africa's most influential writer.

Julie Hearn offers a heartfelt tribute to the legendary Gĩkũyũ storyteller and revolutionary Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, who passed away on Wednesday, 28 May 2025, at the age of 87.