Renowned Kenyan author and scholar Ngugi wa Thiong’o has died at the age of 87. His daughter, Wanjiku Wa Ngugi, announced his passing in a Facebook post on Wednesday.
“It is with a heavy heart that we announce the passing of our dad, Ngugi wa Thiong’o this Wednesday morning,” she wrote, adding, “He lived a full life, fought a good fight.”
Ngugi was widely considered one of East Africa’s greatest literary minds. His bold choice to write exclusively in Kikuyu, his native language, positioned him as a fierce advocate for African identity in the post-colonial era. He became a symbol of cultural resistance and intellectual liberation across the continent.
Tributes have poured in from across Kenya and beyond. Opposition leader Martha Karua described him on X as “a renowned literary giant and scholar, a son of the soil and great patriot whose footprints are indelible.”
Ngugi’s activism once put him behind bars. In 1977, he was jailed without charge following the staging of *Ngaahika Ndeenda* (*I Will Marry When I Want*), a play that sharply criticized post-colonial Kenya. Amnesty International declared him a prisoner of conscience, and global pressure eventually led to his release from Kamiti Maximum Security Prison in 1978.
Amnesty International Kenya paid tribute on Wednesday, saying, “Thank you Mwalimu for your freedom writing. Having already earned his place in Kenyan history, he transitions from mortality to immortality.”
In 1982, Ngugi went into self-imposed exile after the Kenyan government banned political theatre. He lived in the United Kingdom before settling in the United States, where he continued writing and teaching.
Among his most influential works is *Decolonising the Mind* (1986), a seminal collection of essays on language, culture, and identity. His long list of published works includes novels such as *Weep Not, Child* (1964), *The River Between* (1965), *Petals of Blood* (1977), and *Wizard of the Crow* (2006). He also wrote children’s books, plays, memoirs, and numerous essays tackling politics, culture, and African philosophy.
Ngugi wa Thiong’o leaves behind a towering literary legacy that has shaped generations of writers, thinkers, and activists.
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