Kenya’s celebrated author and scholar Prof. Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o has died aged 87 from the United States, Taarifa has learned.
His daughter, author Wanjiku wa Ngũgĩ, confirmed that her father passed away on Wednesday morning, May 28 after battling a long illness.
“It is with a heavy heart that we announce the passing of our dad… He lived a full life, fought a good fight. As was his last wish, let’s celebrate his life and his work.”
She added that the family spokesperson, Nducu wa Ngũgĩ, would announce details of his celebration of life in the coming days.
Prof. Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o wasborn on January 5, 1938.
He pioneered the decolonisation of African literature through language. He began his career writing in English but later embraced his native Gikuyu, championing linguistic authenticity and cultural liberation.
His powerful works addressed colonialism, nationalism, corruption, and identity, and he famously authored the novel Devil on the Cross while in prison—written on toilet paper after being jailed by the Kenyan government for co-authoring the politically charged play Ngaahika Ndeenda.
Following his release, Ngũgĩ went into exile and taught at several leading universities, including Yale, NYU, and the University of California, Irvine, where he served as Distinguished Professor of Comparative Literature.
He was the founder of the Gikuyu-language journal Mũtĩiri, and his short story The Upright Revolution: Or Why Humans Walk Upright has been translated into over 100 languages.
President William Ruto of Kenya has led the country in mourning the death of Ngũgĩ .
“Always courageous, he made an indelible impact on how we think about our independence, social justice, and the uses and abuses of political and economic power,” President Ruto said.
Ruto praised Ngũgĩ’s bold, creative career that inspired both admiration and challenge. “He showed us how to make contributions that cannot be ignored, and to speak in ways that both supporters and opponents could not dismiss,” he said.