Umwanditsi w’Umukenya Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, wamenyekanye cyane ku rwego mpuzamahanga kubera ubuvanganzo bwe bwagaragazaga ubukana bw’ubukoloni n’ingaruka zabwo muri Afurika, yapfuye afite imyaka 87.
Inkuru y’urupfu rwe yatangajwe n’umukobwa we, Wanjiku wa Ngũgĩ, abinyujije ku rubuga nkoranyambaga rwa Facebook.
Wanjiku yanditse ati: “Yabayeho neza, arwana intambara nziza.”
Yakomeje avuga ko yitabye Imana ku wa Gatatu mu gitondo i Atlanta, muri Leta Zunze Ubumwe za Amerika. Amakuru arambuye ku rupfu rwe azatangazwa mu minsi iri imbere.
Ngũgĩ, wavukiye mu muryango w’abahinzi mu gihe cy’ubukoloni bw’Abongereza muri Kenya, yamenyekanye ku isi yose binyuze mu bitabo bye bikomeye birimo “Weep Not, Child” (1964), “Devil on the Cross” (1980), na “Wizard of the Crow” (2006). Yari umwe mu banditsi bake bahisemo kwandika mu rurimi rwabo gakondo, Igikuyu, nk’inzira yo guharanira ubwigenge bw’umuco.
Yigeze kuvuga ati: “Mu buroko ni ho natangiye gutekereza ku ndimi mu buryo bwimbitse. Kuki ntigeze mpagarikwa mbere hose, igihe nandika mu Cyongereza?”
Mu 1977 yarafunzwe nyuma yo gukina ikinamico “Ngaahika Ndeenda” (I Will Marry When I Want), yanditse mu Gikuyu, ishyira ahabona akarengane ku bukungu n’imyemerere yatezaga urwikekwe mu butegetsi bwa Perezida Daniel arap Moi.
Nyuma yo kurekurwa mu 1978, yagiye mu buhungiro mu Bwongereza hanyuma akomereza muri Amerika aho yabaye umwarimu muri Kaminuza ya California, Irvine. Mu 2004 yasubiye iwabo gusa biza kuba bibi ubwo abagizi ba nabi bitwaje intwaro bamusanze iwe, baramukubita kandi bafata ku ngufu umugore we Njeeri.
Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o yakomeje ubuvanganzo no gushishikariza abatuye Afurika kwiyumvamo agaciro k’indimi zabo. Yashimangiraga ko indimi z’amahanga zidakwiriye guhora zihabwa intebe mu burezi n’umuco.
Ubwo yigishaga muri Kaminuza ya Nairobi yagize ati: “ubuvanganzo nyafurika bugomba kujya ku isonga kugira ngo ibindi bihugu n’indi mico tuyiveho.”
Mu 2021, yanditswe ku rutonde rw’abahataniraga igihembo International Booker Prize kubera igitabo cye cyanditswe mu buryo bw’umuvugo, “The Perfect Nine”, kikaba ari cyo cya mbere cyari cyanditswe n’umwanditsi nyafurika mu rurimi gakondo.
Uretse kuba yari umwanditsi, Ngũgĩ yari n’umubyeyi w’abana icyenda, bane muri bo bakaba barakurikije inzira ye yo kwandika: Tee Ngũgĩ, Mukoma wa Ngũgĩ, Nducu wa Ngũgĩ, na Wanjiku wa Ngũgĩ.
Mu kiganiro yagiranye n’The Guardian mu 2018, Ngũgĩ yagize ati: “Kwanga akarengane ni bwo buryo bwiza bwo gukomeza kubaho. N’iyo bwaba ubuto, kuba wavuga ‘oya’ ku bidakwiye ni intsinzi.”
Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o asize amateka akomeye mu guharanira indangagaciro z’Afurika binyuze mu ndimi, ubuvanganzo, n’ubutabera. Azibukwa nk’umwe mu nkingi z’umuco n’inyandiko za Afurika y’iki gihe.
