Vice-Chancellor Pays Tribute to Literary Giant Ngugi Wa Thiong’o
The Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Jesang Hutchinson on Thursday 29 May 2025 led members of the University community in paying tribute to literary giant and scholar Ngugi wa Thiong’o who died aged 87 in Georgia, United States of America.
Below is the Vice-Chancellor’s message following the news of Prof. Ngugi wa Thiong’o’s demise:
Weep not! But celebrate Ngugi.
It is with heavy hearts that we acknowledge the passing of a remarkable scholar, prolific writer, and beloved member of our academic community, Prof. Ngugi wa Thiongo, who left us on 28th May 2025.
Ngugi wa Thiong’o was a brilliant scholar whose contributions to the study of African Literature have been profound and enduring. He started his illustrious career as a lecturer and later served as Chairman of the Department of Literature at the University of Nairobi, dedicating his life to advancing knowledge and inspiring generations of students and scholars alike.
Ngugi was not only a distinguished academic but also a fierce defender of human rights through his writings and performance arts. His works, including Weep Not Child, A Grain of Wheat, and Ngugi Detained have resonated widely and continue to challenge, inspire, and elevate the voices of our continent.
The University of Nairobi has indeed lost a respected member of its community — a man whose passion, integrity, and intellectual rigour will be deeply missed. His legacy will forever remain embedded in the fabric of African literature and human rights advocacy.
As we mourn the loss of Prof. Ngugi wa Thiong’o, we choose to celebrate his extraordinary life and the indelible mark he has left on us all.
May his soul rest in eternal peace.
Prof. Jesang Hutchinson
Vice-Chancellor, University of Nairobi
The late Ngugi wa Thiong’o occupies a special place in the history of the University of Nairobi, having been a lecturer in the Department of Literature between 1967 and 1977. He will particularly be remembered as the first African to head the university’s Department of Literature where he not only influenced the thinking, but also helped entrench the emphasis on African Literature. At the same time, Ngugi’s tenure at the university may have inspired his life trajectory as an author, literary critic, and academician.
In her tribute to Professor Ngugi wa Thiong’o, the current chairperson of the Department of Literature, Prof. Miriam Maranga-Musonye, captures the essence of the man and his contribution to the discipline of Literature. It is clear that Ngugi not only played a crucial role in the establishment of the department’s foundational approach, but also continued to influence its teachings and thinking through his numerous works and often personal interactions with the academic staff. Prof. Musonye had this to say:
The fall of the Múgumo of African Literature resounds with reverberating echoes. At UoN, he made a mark not only as the first African Chair of the Department of Literature, but also as the champion of the decolonization of Literature and its pedagogy through what is now known as the Nairobi Revolution. The foundation he laid continues to be seen in the curriculum, theatre practice, and research trends in the department and beyond. His curtain has fallen, but what he immortalized in pages through his writing will continue to speak through the ages. May his soul rest in eternal peace.
Dr Makau Kitata, also from the Department of Literature remembers a recent encounter with Prof. Ngugi wa Thiong’o barely a week before the writer’s demise. He says,
During a WhatsApp call last Friday, May 23rd 2025, with professors Miriam Musonye and Peter Ndiang’ui, we had the rare pleasure of conversing with Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o in the intimacy of our languages. True to his lifelong devotion to the power of African tongues, he embraced the moment with evident joy. I was not surprised when he chose to engage me at length in Kikamba.
He was deeply moved by our efforts to document the legacy of the Kamĩrĩĩthũ Theatre Project expressing his gratitude with the gentle solemnity of one who knows the weight of memory. As we excused him from the call, it felt as though his appreciation lingered—less a departure than a silent blessing.
On his part, Dr Alex Wanjala recalls:
I witnessed Prof. Ngugi's wit and humour first hand when he visited the University of Nairobi in 2015 and asked me what magic I had used to transform myself from an older version to the younger one he was seeing, clearly making a joke about the fact that he had come across a father and his son in the Department of Literature. The great beyond is richer with his presence. May God Rest his soul in eternal peace.
Born in 1938 at Kamirithu, Limuru, in present day Kiambu County, Ngugi wa Thiong’o lived his life truly as a man of letters, and one who was especially passionate about African languages and cultures, which he perceived as a form of liberation and empowerment. One of his most influential publications on this subject is Decolonizing the Mind: The politics of Language in African Literature published in 1986. Describing himself as a “language warrior”, Ngugi also wrote against corruption, social injustice, and colonization.
He was an alumni of the Alliance High School (1958) and Makerere University College (1963). In 1964, Ngugi published his first novel, Weep not Child. He would go on to publish numerous other works, displaying his versatility through different writing formats including novels, short stories, plays, essays, memoirs, adventures academic essays, and non-fiction material among others. His latest book published in May 2025 is titled Decolonizing Language and other Revolutionary Ideas, which features a collection of essays and poems written between 2000 and 2019. Ngugi published in his indigenous Gikuyu language and English.
As the curtain falls on this great literary giant, Ngugi wa Thiong’o will be remembered for many years to come through his writings and especially for raising academic consciousness about the liberating power of African languages, African cultures, and African Literature.
May his soul rest in eternal peace.
