Format: Hybrid

Venue: BIEA Seminar Room, Laikipia Road, Kileleshwa

Date: Saturday, 5 July 2025

Time: 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM EAT

Join us in honoring the legacy of Prof Ngugi wa Thiong’o, the celebrated Kenyan writer and academic, who passed away on 28 May 2025, at the age of 87.

Ngugi was more than a literary icon—he was a political force. Through his novels, essays and plays, he boldly critiqued colonialism, neocolonialism and authoritarianism—often at great personal cost. His imprisonment and exile did not silence him; instead, they deepened his resolve to use language (especially his native language, Gikuyu) and writing as tools of resistance and liberation. From Petals of Blood to Wizard of the Crow and Decolonising the Mind, Ngugi challenged power structures and championed a politics rooted in cultural pride and social justice.

On 5 July 2025, the Rift Valley Forum—in collaboration with the British Institute in Eastern Africa, IFRA, Cheche Books and Twaweza Communications—will bring together scholars, authors, activists and politicians to celebrate Ngugi’s literary brilliance, political courage and enduring influence: A tribute to a towering figure whose voice empowered generations. The Forum will explore how his work inspired movements and continues to shape discourse on democracy, identity and freedom in Kenya and beyond.

To join online, please register using this link. 

Moderator

Dr Tom Odhiambo

Academic

Speakers

Sitawa Namwalie

Poet/Playwright/Performer

Yusuf Hassan

Kenyan Politician

Mohamed Amin Abdishukri

Writer/Socio-politcal Commentator

Kimani Njogu

Linguist