President Ruto, DP Kindiki mourn Prof. Ngugi wa Thiong'o

The literature icon passed away on Tuesday May 28, 2025 at the age of 87 at a hospital in Buford in the State of Georgia, United States of America. 

In a tribute shared on his X account, President Ruto described Ngugi as courageous.

“He made an indelible impact on how we think about our independence, social justice as well as the uses and abuses of political and economic power,” said President Ruto.

Ruto also noted that Ngugi made a mark by contributing to things in a manner that cannot be ignored and spoke in ways both opposition and supporters cannot ignore.

The Head of State noted how Kenyans were united in anticipation of Ngugi clinching a Nobel Prize for his work. 

Deputy President Kithure Kindiki has also mourned Ngugi’s death, saying he “was admired by many across the globe, and those who disagreed with his views respected him.”

“The world’s academia is left very much the poorer without this great son of Kenya,” Kindiki euologised. 

Ngugi was known for various works such as Petals of Blood, which saw him detained for a year before being released in December 1978, Grain of Wheat and Weep Not, Child writtten in English and a plethora of works he wrote in the Agikuyu dialect namely Ngaahika Ndeenda (I Will Marry When I Want), and Devil on the Cross (Caitaani mũtharaba-Inĩ).