Literary Giant Ngugi wa Thiongo’s Son Reveals Secrets About His Father’s First Marriage

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Legendary writer Ngugi wa Thiongo’s latest revelation about his father’s marriage to his late mother, Nyambura, has brought to light distressing accounts of alleged domestic abuse in their family. In a recent post, Mukoma shared a picture of an old feature  article titled, ” A novelist’s lonely wife: Battered and persecuted Nyambura Ngugi hold on to a dream.”

The picture shared was captioned, ” My father physically abused my late mother – he would beat her up.” He noted, “Some of my earliest memories are of me going to visit her at my grandmother’s where she would seek refuge. But with that said it is the silencing of who she was that gets me. Ok- I have said it,”

Nyambura, Ngugi was Thiongo’s first wife die in 1996. Over the years, her identity and struggles have been silenced further adding mystery to the narrative. Mukoma in a different post that was made on November 28, 2022, shared his disapproval over the fact that his mother was systematically erased from Ngugi wa Thiongo’s story.

The story pinned on his official Twitter story reads,  “It hurts to see my late mother, Nyambura (my daughter is named after her) being systemically erased from the Ngugi Wa Thiongo’s story.”

In a past interview in 1995, Prof Ngugi said that Njeeri was his only legal wife asserting that although he had full-grown children with his first wife, Njeeri was the only legal wife since he had “no valid marital bond with any other woman”.

Mukoma’s revelation further brings to note his marriage to Njeeri which ended in divorce under unclear circumstances which further deepens the family saga that surrounds this literary giant.

READ MORE: Is Ngugi Wa Thiong’o Lonely And Ailing In The US?

742

Leave a Reply

Pin It on Pinterest

fr_FRFR