This archive report was first published on 29 June 2019.
On June 13, 2019, a distinguished gathering of scholars, students, and literature enthusiasts came together at the United States International University's auditorium in Nairobi to launch a new book, Ngugi: Reflections on his Life of Writing, edited by Simon Gikandi and Ndirangu Wachanga. The book, published by James Currey, marks a significant milestone in the celebration of Ngugi wa Thiong'o's 80th birthday.
As noted by Paul Tiyambe Zeleza in his introductory remarks, Ngugi is one of the world's leading intellectuals, whose influence transcends countries, languages, and disciplines. The book showcases Ngugi's pioneering and sustaining debates in various domains of Kenyan publics, including publishing, education, politics, and governance.
At the launch, panellists including Henry Chakava, former Chief Justice Willy Mutunga, and Garnette Oluoch-Olunya, among others, highlighted Ngugi's contributions to the world of knowledge and its politics. Chakava and Gikandi's remarks, published in the book, summarised the dynamics that informed the publishing industry in Kenya during the Jomo Kenyatta and Daniel Moi eras, the rise of the regional literary canon, and Ngugi's tenacious grit in the face of systemic persecutions.
Ngugi's inauguration of the language debate as a fundamental basis of engagement for Africans and other peoples of the world remains relevant today. His literary, political, and philosophical critique of artificial hierarchies of racial and linguistic identities continues to inspire and challenge readers.
As Prof Kimani Njogu noted, the need to preserve and grow content in African languages goes beyond meeting ethnic or racial identity needs; it includes creating fodder for the technologies of artificial intelligence that are set to mediate human interactions. The prospect of Africans' voices in global discourses going silent forever is a dire consequence of neglecting this imperative.
Ngugi's reflections on the intrigues surrounding the publication of his works during and after his detention without trial highlighted the global economics of exploitation and the role of language in this. He noted that Europe has given Africa resources to access European accents, while Africa continues to give Europe access to its resources, perpetuating the global imbalance of power.
Ngugi's influence extends beyond the language of literatures, shaping philosophies of justice and international geopolitical ties. His encounter with radical intellectualism in the early 1970s exposed him to notions of justice and fairness beyond Black's Law Dictionary. Mutunga's days at the University of Nairobi, where he encountered a vibrant Department of Literature and its active Free Travelling Theatre, were moments of moral awakening sparked by his reading of Ngugi's works.
