Ngugi Attacked in Kenya

I had mentioned Ngugi wa Thiong’o’s return to Kenya ten days ago, mostly to talk about the positive homecoming he’s been having, but now that he’s been the victim of violence, the NY Times catches up with him in this article.

On Wednesday night, while Mr. Ngugi was resting in a Nairobi apartment between speaking engagements, four robbers barged in and brutalized him, his wife and a friend. The attackers, figuring he was prominent, stole cash and jewelry as well as Mr. Ngugi’s laptop computer. One of the intruders burned Mr. Ngugi’s face repeatedly with a cigarette.
“Welcome to the new Kenya, sir,” wrote Lucy Oriang, a columnist for The Daily Nation, Kenya’s main newspaper. “In the old days, you struggled to stay a step ahead of political terrorists-cum-state agents. These days, you watch out for both political and criminal thugs.”

A few Ngugi books: Petals of Blood, Decolonising the Mind, and Weep Not, Child.