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BY BEATRICE WAMUYU
KENYA: Imprisoned and exiled for championing social change and good governance, writer Ngugi wa Thiong’o is one of Kenya’s top ambassadors to the world.
Ngugi found himself in trouble in the 1970s for his literary works that sought to raise social and political awareness among peasants. His works also sought a return to African ideals and culture that had been eroded by years of western imperialism.
In 1977, he was imprisoned without trial at Kamiti Maximum Prison for his play, Ngahiika Ndeenda (I will marry when I want). The government also demolished an open air theatre at Kamirithu, near Limuru, where villagers would stage plays that stoked political awareness amidst oppression by the regime.
Years later, he fled into exile, fearing for his life as the government cracked down on human rights crusaders by labeling them dissidents. He vowed he would never come back to Kenya as long as Kanu, the party that ruled the country from independence in 1963 to 2002, was in power.
It was with much fanfare that Ngugi returned to the country soon after President Moi’s exit from power in 2002. He and his wife would be attacked in one of the most abhorrent crimes that left a big blot on the image of the country.
The attack
The irony is that after two decades in exile, Ngugi felt it was now safe to return home. As a crusader of social change, one of the issues Ngugi had fought was a more just society, a society of upright morals that preserves the dignity of all. He fought for a society that is not only devoid of oppression by the State, but where ordinary individuals respect the rights of others and live in harmony.
However, the attack as he retired to sleep at Norfolk Towers – an up-market apartment block where one would have expected the best security compared to downtown Nairobi – left the nation gasping for answers. Couldn’t the new government have protected one of its foremost sons who was returning home after such a long time? By how far had the ideals he fought for been realised?
It was in August, 2004, when Ngugi was expected to travel to Kaimirithu and meet friends and family. However, at night, a gang broke into his apartment, where his wife Njeri was sleeping, and demanded cash.
They attacked Ngugi, burning his face with cigarette butts. They yanked off his matrimonial ring. Then, another thug raped his wife. How low had Kenyans descended?
When Ngugi learnt of what had happened, he stood at the door and asked the gang to kill him. They fled.
A week later, as she lay in a hospital bed recovering from the attack, she told of the incident and her fear of contracting HIV.
Media reports first indicated that the thugs had only attempted to rape her. “It would have been very, very easy for me to take your word as attempted rape, get on the plane and go to America and heal myself,” she said when announcing the decision to tell the truth.
At an emotional meeting with journalists, she said how hurt she was that Ngugi returned believing he was safe, only to be attacked. “My fear and prayer was that I would return him home when he was still standing, not in a box.”
She continued: “I brought him back to you, then somebody almost killed him. It’s not fair, it’s not right, it’s not right,” she said and wept.
Ngugi said he believed the attackers were not acting alone, as their movements were unhurried. They were thorough, and even scrutinised his personal and travel papers.
“It is difficult to believe that these four were acting alone or that theft was their main goal,” he said. “Their slow, unhurried way of going about business was chilling,” he added.
Cabinet ministers Kiraitu Murungi and Raila Odinga apologised on behalf of the government.
Three people were sentenced to death for the attack. Ngugi’s relative charged along the three was freed for lack of evidence.
