Sad farewell to Kenya's Tolstoy

DURING his imprisonment, Kenyan author Ngugi wa Thiong’o decided he would never write in English again, a defiant move that helped put literature in African languages firmly on the map.

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Ngugi died at the age of 87 on Wednesday.

“It is with a heavy heart that we announce the passing of our dad, Ngugi wa Thiong’o this Wednesday morning,” wrote his daughter Wanjiku Wa Ngugi. “He lived a full life, fought a good fight.”

Widely regarded as east Africa’s most influential writer, Ngugi sought to forge a body of literature reflecting the land and people from which he came, and not follow in the footsteps of Western tradition.

“I believe so much in equality of languages. I am completely horrified by the hierarchy of languages,” he told AFP in an interview in 2022 from California, where he lived in self-imposed exile.

His decision in the 1970s to abandon English in favour of his native Kikuyu, as well as Kenya’s national language Swahili, was met with widespread incomprehension at first.

“We all thought he was mad... and brave at the same time,” said Kenyan writer David Maillu. “We asked ourselves who would buy the books.”

Yet the bold choice built his reputation and turned him into an African literary landmark.

The softly-spoken writer also lived a life as dramatic as his novels.