Overview

• Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o passed away on May 28 at the age of 87 in the United States, as announced by his daughter, Wanjiku wa Ngũgĩ, on Facebook.
• His 1977 arrest for the Gikuyu-language play Ngaahika Ndeenda led him to abandon English and compose Devil on the Cross on prison-issued toilet paper.
• Exiled in 1982 amid threats to his life, he taught at Yale, New York University and the California, Irvine, shaping post-colonial literary studies.
• A perennial Nobel Prize nominee, his novels—from Weep Not, Child to Wizard of the Crow—and his essay collection Decolonising the Mind reshaped African literature and inspired countless writers.
• Tributes poured in from Kenyan President William Ruto, authors such as Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and organizations like Amnesty International, all highlighting his unwavering critique of oppression and cultural advocacy.