How do you properly honour the dead? Are flowers on their grave enough? Do epic poems do the job? Or large murals of the dead useful enough to keep them eternal? What are words to try and capture the depth and breadth of a life? Almost futile. How now can you honour a titan and a true icon? Kenya’s son, African champion, star from East Africa, perhaps it is just best to call his name; Baba Ngugi wa Thiong’o.

Born in 1938, James Ngugi was born to a polygamous family in which is father had four wives and over twenty children, Ngugi saw first-hand the dark shadow and atrocities of the Mau Mau Movement, the liberation struggle which would usher in Kenya’s independence in 1964. His brother was shot during a state of emergency while his mother was tortured at the Kamiiruthu home guard post. His first hand encounter with the uprising influenced future works such as “Petals of Blood” (1977). The young Ngugi was educated at the Alliance High School then later earned his Bachelors in English at Makerere University in neighbouring Uganda. In 1964, Ngugi made history as the writer from east Africa to publish a novel, “Weep Not Child.”

As he grew so did his ideologies and advocacy. In 1967, saw a shift towards Fanonist Marxism in his work with the publication of “A Grain of Wheat” and saw him renounce writing in English in favour of writing exclusively in his native language, Gikuyu. It was then that he also changed his name from James Ngugi to Ngugi wa Thiong’o. While he was a lecturer at the University of Nairobi he advocated for the teaching of African literature (including oral literature), his efforts resulted in the university removing English literature from their program offerings. 

1976 saw his help setting up the Kamirrithu Community Education and Cultural Centre which helped to make theatre more accessible to audiences and promoted arts education. 1977 saw the release of “Petals of Blood” a politically charged novel that tells the story of four men whose lives are intertwined by the Mau Mau Uprising. He also staged his play “I Will Marry When I Want.” These two works drew the attention of Kenya’s then vice president Daniel arap Moi and resulted in Ngugi’s one year imprisonment without trial. While in prison, he wrote his novel “Devil on the Cross” on tissue paper. 

He was released from prison in 1978 but was not reinstated as a professor at the University of Nairobi. He and his family were subject to threats and harassment which lead to his exile. Ngugi would only return to the land of his birth on an East Africa tour in 2004. During his exile he continued to write and publish more searing works including the popular novel “Wizard of the Crow” (2006) and the non-fiction book “Decolonising the Mind: The Politics of Language in African Language” (1986), which is one of his most cited works and is considered an important text in the language debate in post-colonialism. He lived around the world and was a lecturer at institutions such as Bayreuth University, Yale University, New York University and University of California, Irvine.

Ngugi wrote works which ranged from children’s books to non-fiction books on language, neo-colonialism and Africa. His books have been translated into over a hundred languages and seen him gain respect of the masses for his craftsmanship and ideologies. He was honoured with a slew of awards including the 2022 PEN/Nabokov Award for Achievement in International Literature, 2021 his novel ‘The Perfect Nine’ was long listed for the International Booker Prize and he was elected as a member of the American Academy of Arts and Science. He has been awarded over a dozen honorary doctorates from top institutions such as Yale University and the University of Edinburgh. Many outlets have listed him as one of the most significant and important literary voices to emerge not only from Africa but the world. He was also considered a likely candidate for the Nobel Prize for Literature though a nomination never came his way. 

So there is only a fraction of what this man meant to the world and to the generations of people who have been touched by his words and work. So how do you give a tribute to a great oak? It is almost impossible to measure what Ngugi meant to the world but we must try. Today we shine a light on a legend, a titan, a victor and a true luminary. The man who changed his own name to break free of colonial bonds it probably best to just start there when we pay homage to him; Ngugi wa Thiong’o. 

Read more about his foundation here: https://www.ngugiwathiongofoundation.org/