A TRIBUTE TO NGUGI

Ngugi will live forever.

Ngugi is gone.
But Ngugi is still around.
Ngugi is gone.
But Ngugi is still alive.
Ngugi is gone.
But Ngugi will live forever.

Ngugi wa Thiong’o breathed his last on May 28th, 2025.
But his works will never stop breathing.
So long as humankind can read and write,
the voice of Ngugi wa Thiong’o will remain alive.

He will continue to speak.
He will continue to warn.
He will continue to call us to arms.
He will continue to rally the rebels and the believers.
He will continue to haunt those who seek to colonize others.
He will continue to haunt those who try to silence truth.
He will continue to cause uproar in the midst of those
who would erase the existence of others.

Because Ngugi wa Thiong’o lived,
the language of Gikuyu will not perish from the earth.
Because Ngugi wa Thiong’o lived,
Ngoroge will forever stand among the pantheon of human stories.
Because Ngugi wa Thiong’o lived,
oppressed people everywhere will not remain conquered forever.

Ngugi is gone.
But Ngugi is not silence.

Journey well, ancestor.