Africa is orphaned! Gachagua says on Ngugi Wa Thiong’o's death

Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has said that Professor Ngugi Wa Thiong’o's death has left the African continent orphaned.

In a message of condolence, Gachagua described Ngugi as a mentor, an honest man and a great political animal.

“The passing on of Prof Ngugi Wa Thiong’o has orphaned Africa; we, the students of literature, have borne it all. Prof Ngugi was one in many; a mentor, a teacher, a prolific writer, a poet, an honest man, and a great political animal,” he said.

The former DP said Ngugi was a literary genius who inspired his world of literary language and communication.

He added that the late Professor’s great works of literature among them; The River Between, Weep Not Child, A Grain of Wheat, I Will Marry When I Want, Devil on the Cross, Decolonising the Mind, Wizard of the Crow, Matigari, Dreams in the Time of War, among others created an original African desire, identity and the African literary philosophy.

“If a literary genius ever lived who has inspired my world of literary language and communication, may it be the use of symbolism, figurative language, metaphors, metonymy, poetry, that genius is Prof. Ngùgì Wa Thiong’o.

“The African literary champion never shied from writing in his native language and his quest to tell the African story through the African lens. This inspiration lives on through works like Matigari, Ngahìka Ndeenda, Caitaani Mutharaba-Inì, among others, true to African heroism,” Gachagua added.

The former DP prayed for God’s comfort to the family.

Prof. Ngùgì Wa Thiong’o’s family announced his passing Wednesday evening, May 28, 2025, saying he “lived a full life, fought a good fight.”

Ngugi is widely regarded as Kenya’s most influential writer and one of Africa’s leading literary voices.

He is best known for his bold critique of colonial and postcolonial systems, and for his decision to write in his native Gikuyu language as a political and cultural statement.