NAIROBI, Kenya May 29 \u2013 Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has paid an emotional tribute to literary giant Prof. Ng\u0169g\u0129 wa Thiong\u2019o, calling his death a monumental loss to Africa and generations of literary scholars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gachagua described the celebrated author and intellectual as \u201ca mentor, teacher, prolific writer, poet, honest man, and great political animal,\u201d whose passing had \u201corphaned Africa.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cProf. Ng\u0169g\u0129 was one in many,\u201d he said in a statement, joining a chorus of tributes pouring in from across the globe. \u201cWe, the students of literature, have borne it all.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ng\u0169g\u0129 died on Wednesday night, in the United States after a long illness. He was 87. His daughter, Wanjiku wa Ngugi, confirmed the news on a Facebook post, saying her father \u201clived a full life and fought a good fight.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gachagua reflected on the profound impact Ng\u0169g\u0129\u2019s writing had on both his personal and political life, praising the writer\u2019s mastery of language and deep symbolism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIf a literary genius ever lived who has inspired my world of literary language and communication\u2014be it through symbolism, figurative language, metaphors, metonymy or poetry\u2014that genius is Prof. Ng\u0169g\u0129 wa Thiong\u2019o,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He lauded Ng\u0169g\u0129\u2019s lifelong commitment to telling African stories from an African perspective, celebrating his fearless embrace of native languages in literature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe African literary champion never shied from writing in his native language. This inspiration lives on through works like Matigari<\/em>, Ngahika Ndeenda<\/em>, and Caitaani Mutharaba-In\u0129<\/em>, true to African heroism,\u201d Gachagua said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Among his favourite reads, he mentioned Petals of Blood<\/em>, Maitu Njugira<\/em>, M\u0169rogi wa Kagogo<\/em>, and Caitani Mutharaba-Ini<\/em>, books he said helped shape his worldview.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Gachagua also revealed that after leaving office in 2024, he found himself returning to one of Ng\u0169g\u0129\u2019s seminal works, A Grain of Wheat<\/em>, drawing strength and insight from the line:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThen nobody noticed it; but looking back, we can see that Waiyaki\u2019s blood contained within it a seed, a grain, which gave birth to a movement.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHis inspiration to me went beyond the classroom into my political world,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Born James Ngugi on 5 January 1938, Ng\u0169g\u0129 wa Thiong\u2019o was a trailblazing author, playwright, essayist and academic whose influence on African literature and political thought is immeasurable. Though he began his career writing in English, he later embraced his native Gikuyu language, becoming a pioneering voice for linguistic decolonisation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He founded and edited the Gikuyu-language journal M\u0169t\u0129iri<\/em>, and his short story The Upright Revolution: Or Why Humans Walk Upright<\/em> has been translated into over 100 languages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 1977, his radical approach to community theatre, exemplified by the play Ngaahika Ndeenda<\/em> (co-written with Ng\u0169g\u0129 wa M\u0129ri\u0129), was met with state repression. The Kenyan regime shut down the production and imprisoned him for over a year. During his incarceration, Ng\u0169g\u0129 famously wrote Devil on the Cross<\/em> on toilet paper. He was later recognised by Amnesty International as a prisoner of conscience and went into exile after his release.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ng\u0169g\u0129\u2019s academic journey took him to top institutions, including Northwestern University, Yale, and New York University. He eventually became Distinguished Professor of Comparative Literature and English at the University of California, Irvine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Often cited as a frontrunner for the Nobel Prize in Literature, Ng\u0169g\u0129 received numerous global accolades, including the 2001 International Nonino Prize and the 2016 Park Kyong-ni Prize.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He leaves behind a towering literary legacy and a family of writers, including his children Mukoma wa Ngugi and Wanjiku wa Ngugi.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Ng\u0169g\u0129 died on Wednesday night, in the United States after a long illness. He was 87. His daughter, Wanjiku wa Ngugi, confirmed the news on a Facebook post, saying her father \u201clived a full life and fought a good fight.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14311,"featured_media":772815,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[1981,6870],"coauthors":[4668],"class_list":["post-772814","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-top-stories","tag-featured","tag-ngugi-wa-thiongo"],"yoast_head":"\n