{"id":8072,"date":"2025-10-23T20:12:19","date_gmt":"2025-10-23T17:12:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chuss.mak.ac.ug\/en\/?p=8072"},"modified":"2026-02-05T14:33:05","modified_gmt":"2026-02-05T11:33:05","slug":"makerere-celebrates-the-life-and-legacy-of-ngugi-wa-thiongo-the-dream-weaver-who-lit-africas-imagination","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chuss.mak.ac.ug\/en\/makerere-celebrates-the-life-and-legacy-of-ngugi-wa-thiongo-the-dream-weaver-who-lit-africas-imagination\/","title":{"rendered":"Makerere\u00a0 Celebrates the Life and Legacy of Ng\u0169g\u0129 wa Thiong\u2019o \u2013 The Dream Weaver Who Lit Africa\u2019s Imagination"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Main Hall, Makerere University | October 22, 2025<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Makerere University held a solemn yet celebratory memorial in honour of the late Prof. Ng\u0169g\u0129 wa Thiong\u2019o \u2014 the legendary African intellectual, creative writer, and distinguished alumnus whose literary and ideological legacy continues to shape global thought.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The event, held in the iconic Main Hall and streamed online, drew together the university community, literary scholars, writers, students, alumni, and admirers of Ng\u0169g\u0129\u2019s work. Speakers paid glowing tribute to his lifelong fight for justice, identity, and linguistic liberation, and to his enduring ties to Makerere \u2014 the place where his dream as a writer began.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 \u201cMakerere Will Forever Honour Her Son\u201d \u2014 Prof. Sarah Ssali<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Delivering the official opening remarks on behalf of Vice Chancellor Prof. Barnabas Nawangwe, Acting Vice Chancellor and Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic Affairs), Prof. Sarah Ssali<\/strong> described Ng\u0169g\u0129 wa Thiong\u2019o as \u201cour own son\u201d whose bond with Makerere transcended time and mortality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Prof. Sarah Ssali representing the Vice Chancellor<\/strong><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Prof. Ssali reflected on Ng\u0169g\u0129\u2019s formative years at Makerere University College of East Africa from 1959 to 1964, where he began his literary journey and wrote his first two novels, Weep Not, Child<\/em> and The River Between<\/em>, while residing in Northcote Hall (now Nsibirwa Hall).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She recalled that Ng\u0169g\u0129\u2019s play The Black Hermit<\/em> \u2014 written and produced as a student to mark Uganda\u2019s independence in 1962 \u2014 was the first play by an African to be staged at the National Theatre. \u201cNg\u0169g\u0129 used his art not to lament but to challenge the colonial system, to tell the African story with dignity,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prof. Ssali lauded Ng\u0169g\u0129\u2019s fearless advocacy for African languages, noting that his 1977 decision to write exclusively in Gikuyu was \u201ca radical act of reclaiming African humanity.\u201d She praised him as a \u201cconsistent fighter for human dignity\u201d and challenged students to emulate his courage and excellence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMakerere inspired Ng\u0169g\u0129\u2019s creative and scholarly spirit,\u201d she said. \u201cHis tutors predicted he would bring the College honour \u2014 and that is exactly what he did. Let us, too, build for the future as he did.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNg\u0169g\u0129\u2019s Spirit Will Always Live in CHUSS\u201d \u2014 Assoc. Prof. Eric Awich<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Representing the Principal of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences (CHUSS), Assoc. Prof. Eric Awich Ochen<\/strong> welcomed guests on behalf of Prof. Helen Nambalirwa Nkabala and celebrated Ng\u0169g\u0129\u2019s deep connection with the college that nurtured his talent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He commended the Department of Literature for spearheading the memorial, saying, \u201cIt is important that our students, in the course of their studies, participate in celebrating one of Africa\u2019s greatest literary sons who once sat in these very halls.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Prof. Eric Awich representing the principal CHUSS<\/strong><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Assoc. Prof. Awich highlighted Ng\u0169g\u0129\u2019s early intellectual life, his role in the historic 1962 Conference of African Writers of English Expression held at Makerere, and his later transformation into one of Africa\u2019s most courageous advocates for literature in African languages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNg\u0169g\u0129 was a student of the human subject,\u201d he said. \u201cHe was unafraid to challenge injustice and wore his African identity with pride. His life teaches us that conviction sometimes carries a price \u2014 but it is worth paying when one stands for truth.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He pledged that CHUSS would continue to celebrate Ng\u0169g\u0129\u2019s legacy and encourage students to read his works and live out his principles of integrity, intellectual courage, and service to humanity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA Proud Product of Literature and Language\u201d \u2014 Prof. Sauda Namyalo<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Representing the  Dean of the School of Languages, Literature and Communication, Dr. Levis Mugumya<\/strong> welcomed guests and expressed pride that Ng\u0169g\u0129 was a direct product of the Department of Literature \u2014 now under her School.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She described him as a \u201cremarkable flagbearer\u201d who demonstrated to the world the transformative power of the humanities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Dr. Levis Mugumya representing the Dean SLLC<\/strong><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNg\u0169g\u0129 used the knowledge he acquired here to produce creative and scholarly work that challenged the world to reflect on matters of identity, justice, and freedom,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prof. Namyalo noted that the School continues to advance Ng\u0169g\u0129\u2019s legacy through its commitment to developing and promoting African languages, echoing his vision for cultural liberation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis memorial gives us a chance to revisit our history and see how to use it to build for the future,\u201d she added, calling on students to learn from Ng\u0169g\u0129\u2019s humility and purpose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 \u201cNg\u0169g\u0129: Makerere\u2019s Dream Weaver\u201d \u2014 Prof. Susan Kiguli<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a touching biographical tribute titled \u201cNg\u0169g\u0129: Makerere\u2019s Dream Weaver,\u201d<\/em> Prof. Susan Kiguli<\/strong> of the Department of Literature recounted the life and intellectual journey of Ng\u0169g\u0129 wa Thiong\u2019o, describing him as \u201ca versatile writer, theorist, and activist whose ideas continue to shape African consciousness.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She detailed his long and illustrious career \u2014 from his Makerere days to his tenure as Distinguished Professor of Comparative Literature and English at the University of California, Irvine \u2014 and his numerous works, including A Grain of Wheat, Petals of Blood, Devil on the Cross, Matigari,<\/em> and Wizard of the Crow.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prof. Kiguli underscored Ng\u0169g\u0129\u2019s unwavering stance on writing in African languages and his landmark essay collection Decolonising the Mind<\/em>, which remains \u201ca watershed in postcolonial thought.\u201d She also highlighted his founding of Mutiiri<\/em>, a Gikuyu-language journal, and his leadership at the International Centre for Translation Studies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Assoc. Prof. Susan Kiguli on Ngugi’s Biography<\/strong><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNg\u0169g\u0129 was a fearless intellectual who spoke truth to power and a passionate believer in the power of language to reclaim identity,\u201d she said. \u201cHe will forever remain urgently relevant even in his physical absence.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keynote: <\/strong> Remembering a Makererean Who Changed the World<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The memorial concluded with a renewed sense of pride among Makerereans, who celebrated Ng\u0169g\u0129 not only as a global literary icon but also as one of their own \u2014 a man whose journey from the lecture  room 4 of the University College of East Africa to the world stage embodied the university\u2019s motto: \u201cWe Build for the Future.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prof. <\/strong>Abasi Kiyimba Calls for Reclaiming African Languages as the Final Frontier of Liberation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Delivering a moving keynote address Professor Abasi Kiyimba of the Department of Literature described the late literary icon as \u201ca witness to his people\u2019s history, a warrior for their dignity, and a citizen of the world.\u201d<\/em> He called on African scholars and writers to honour Ng\u0169g\u0129\u2019s legacy by reclaiming African languages as instruments of thought, creativity, and cultural freedom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Prof. Abasi Kiyimba delivering the key note<\/strong><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Speaking before a packed Main Hall, Prof. Kiyimba situated Ng\u0169g\u0129 wa Thiong\u2019o\u2019s life and work within the larger story of African liberation \u2014 from political independence to the ongoing struggle for mental and cultural decolonization. \u201cNg\u0169g\u0129\u2019s journey,\u201d he said, \u201cis the story of modern African literature itself: a story of resistance, creativity, and the enduring struggle for the liberation of the African mind.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Makerere University, the event carried a deeply personal resonance. \u201cMakerere was his literary cradle,\u201d Kiyimba recalled, \u201cthe place where young James Ngugi first found his voice.\u201d It was at Makerere that Ng\u0169g\u0129 wrote his early works The Black Hermit<\/em>, The River Between<\/em>, and Weep Not, Child<\/em>, which laid the foundation for his lifelong dialogue with Africa and the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Drawing from his own encounters with the celebrated writer, Prof. Kiyimba narrated how Ng\u0169g\u0129 maintained a deep attachment to Makerere even decades after leaving. Recalling a memorable meeting at a U.S. conference in 1994, Kiyimba said, \u201cAt the mention of Makerere, Ng\u0169g\u0129 instinctively rose to his feet \u2014 a salute to the institution that had birthed his literary consciousness.\u201d<\/em> The two would later meet again during Ng\u0169g\u0129\u2019s 2013 visit to Makerere, where his passion for writing in African languages remained undiminished.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The keynote traced Ng\u0169g\u0129\u2019s evolution from James Ngugi, the English-language novelist, to Ng\u0169g\u0129 wa Thiong\u2019o, the cultural revolutionary who renounced English in favour of his mother tongue, G\u0129k\u0169y\u0169. Kiyimba explained that this was \u201cnot just a change of name, but a change of direction \u2014 a declaration of independence.\u201d<\/em> Ng\u0169g\u0129, he noted, saw the choice of language as an act of resistance against colonial domination and a battle for the soul of African culture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Quoting Ng\u0169g\u0129\u2019s famous maxim \u2014 \u201cIf you know all the languages of the world and don\u2019t know your mother tongue, that is enslavement; but if you know your mother tongue and add all the languages of the world, that is empowerment\u201d<\/em> \u2014 Prof. Kiyimba underscored language as the final frontier in Africa\u2019s liberation struggle. \u201cNg\u0169g\u0129 understood that colonialism did not end with the lowering of flags,\u201d he said, \u201cit continued through the mind, through education, and especially through language.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He explained that for Ng\u0169g\u0129, writing in G\u0129k\u0169y\u0169 was both a political and philosophical statement \u2014 a challenge to Africa and the postcolonial world to rethink what it means to think, write, and dream in borrowed tongues. In Decolonising the Mind<\/em> (1986), Ng\u0169g\u0129 had declared his farewell to English, promising to continue writing in African languages while using translation as a bridge for global conversation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prof. Kiyimba also revisited the historic 1962 African Writers Conference held at Makerere, which Ng\u0169g\u0129 attended as a young student. He said that the intellectual debate initiated there \u2014 particularly Obi Wali\u2019s challenge that \u201ctrue African literature must be written in African languages\u201d<\/em> \u2014 haunted Ng\u0169g\u0129 for years until he eventually turned his creative pen toward G\u0129k\u0169y\u0169.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Prof. Abasi Kiyiba signs on Ngugi’s portrait<\/strong><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Through his address, Prof. Kiyimba wove together biography, scholarship, and personal reflection to portray Ng\u0169g\u0129 as a man whose life embodied the struggle for African self-definition. He praised him as \u201ca warrior who fought not with guns but with words \u2014 and whose battlefield was the mind.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his closing remarks, Prof. Kiyimba urged African scholars, educators, and parents to continue Ng\u0169g\u0129\u2019s unfinished work: the decolonization of language and education. He warned that Africans who boast of children fluent only in English are \u201ctraining them for a lifetime of mental servitude.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNg\u0169g\u0129 reminded us that translation, not domination, is the true path to understanding,\u201d Kiyimba concluded. \u201cNo single people can claim a monopoly of truth, because every tongue carries a piece of it. The time has come for Africa to reclaim her voice \u2014 in her own languages, on her own terms.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his detailed and passionate address, Prof. Kiyimba traced Ng\u0169g\u0129\u2019s long and courageous journey as a writer, political activist, and cultural revolutionary whose life and work embodied the intertwined struggles for freedom, identity, and language in postcolonial Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ng\u0169g\u0129 and the MWAKENYA Movement: Writing as Resistance<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Prof. Kiyimba  situated Ng\u0169g\u0129\u2019s experiences within Kenya\u2019s turbulent political history. He recounted how, in the late 1970s and 1980s, the writer\u2019s commitment to truth and justice placed him at the centre of political storm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ng\u0169g\u0129\u2019s 1977 community play Ngaahika Ndeenda (I Will Marry When I Want)<\/em> \u2014 performed in Gikuyu \u2014 openly criticized corruption, social injustice, and the exploitation of peasants. Its popularity, he said, alarmed the government, leading to Ng\u0169g\u0129\u2019s arrest and detention without trial on December 31, 1977.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Prof. Abasi Kiyimba seated among the audience<\/strong><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

His detention coincided with the emergence of MWAKENYA<\/em> \u2014 short for Muungano wa Wazalendo wa Kenya<\/em> (Union of Patriots of Kenya) \u2014 a clandestine movement that opposed dictatorship, corruption, and one-party rule. Ng\u0169g\u0129\u2019s activism and his writings, infused with socialist and Pan-Africanist ideals, were closely linked to the movement\u2019s ideals of freedom, equality, and cultural self-determination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Moi government, Prof. Kiyimba explained, branded MWAKENYA as a terrorist organization and banned all of Ng\u0169g\u0129\u2019s works from schools and universities. For over two decades, his books were removed from curricula, and those who read or discussed them risked arrest. Yet, the ban had the opposite effect \u2014 his writings circulated secretly on the black market, and his message of resistance spread further.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPassages from Ngaahika Ndeenda<\/em> and Petals of Blood<\/em> were sold in the streets of Nairobi,\u201d Kiyimba noted. \u201cIn Uganda, A Grain of Wheat<\/em> remained on the syllabus, and this difference in stance even accelerated the break-up of the East African Examinations Council, leading to the formation of UNEB.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In exile, Ng\u0169g\u0129 continued to champion MWAKENYA\u2019s ideals, using his essays and novels to expose tyranny and celebrate the resilience of ordinary people. When accused of plotting armed rebellion, he famously responded:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI wrote a play in my mother tongue; and they responded in their mother tongue \u2014 violence. Negotiating for arms are words in their mother tongue, not mine.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Kiyimba, this response epitomized Ng\u0169g\u0129\u2019s moral courage \u2014 a writer who believed that words, not weapons, were the true tools of liberation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ng\u0169g\u0129 the Writer: A Life Devoted to Literature<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Beyond politics, Prof. Kiyimba emphasized that Ng\u0169g\u0129 was first and foremost a writer<\/em>. \u201cWriting was not a job for him – it was life, a mission, a struggle,\u201d he said. Ng\u0169g\u0129 wrote across genres – novels, plays, poems, essays, memoirs, and children\u2019s stories – leaving behind more than 40 works that together form a literary map of Africa\u2019s postcolonial journey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Hawa Nanjobe Kimbugwe a Literature student in a poetry performance<\/strong><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Among his novels, Weep Not, Child<\/em>, The River Between<\/em>, A Grain of Wheat<\/em>, Petals of Blood<\/em>, Devil on the Cross<\/em>, Matigari<\/em>, and The Wizard of the Crow<\/em> stand as milestones of African literature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kiyimba explained that Ng\u0169g\u0129 regarded himself as a novelist first, but one who respected the power of theatre to reach the people directly. \u201cIt was theatre that landed him in jail,\u201d he reminded the audience, \u201cbut it was also theatre that liberated literature from the classroom to the community.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When asked why he wrote in Gikuyu in his later years, Ng\u0169g\u0129 often said that his early English novels were written to \u201cimpress, complain, or challenge the West.\u201d His Gikuyu works, however, were written for his people.<\/em> \u201cWriting in African languages,\u201d Kiyimba noted, \u201cwas Ng\u0169g\u0129\u2019s way of moving the centre – reclaiming Africa as the heart of its own story.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ng\u0169g\u0129\u2019s Philosophy of Writing: Art as Witness and Weapon<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Addressing criticisms that Ng\u0169g\u0129\u2019s writing was overly political, Prof. Kiyimba said the author dismissed such views as evasions of truth. \u201cHe was simply scrubbing where the dirt was,\u201d he said, quoting George Orwell\u2019s dictum that \u2018all art is propaganda, but not all propaganda is art,\u2019<\/em> and Chinua Achebe\u2019s retort that \u2018art for art\u2019s sake in Africa is deodorized dog waste.\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ng\u0169g\u0129\u2019s works, Kiyimba continued, are conversations with history – mirrors that reflect both the wounds and the hopes of society. His mythological work The Perfect Nine: The Epic of Gikuyu and Mumbi<\/em> illustrates this belief, grounding African identity in indigenous stories and philosophies. \u201cIt reminds us,\u201d Kiyimba said, \u201cthat African societies have their own accounts of where they come from – and those accounts are as good as any.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Through critical works like Decolonising the Mind<\/em>, Homecoming<\/em>, Moving the Centre<\/em>, and Something Torn and New<\/em>, Ng\u0169g\u0129 redefined the role of the writer as both artist and activist. \u201cFor him,\u201d Kiyimba said, \u201cart divorced from its people is sterile; art grounded in their struggles transforms lives.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Championing Children\u2019s Literature and Cultural Renewal<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Prof. Kiyimba also highlighted Ng\u0169g\u0129\u2019s concern for children\u2019s education, recalling his argument that \u201cthe grandmother\u2019s fireplace is no longer available.\u201d<\/em> Writing for children, he said, was Ng\u0169g\u0129\u2019s way of filling that cultural gap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Prof. Abasi Kiyimba presenting<\/strong><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

His children\u2019s books – including Njamba Nene and the Flying Bus<\/em>, Njamba Nene and the Cruel Chief<\/em>, and The Upright Revolution<\/em> – were written to help African children see themselves reflected in their own stories. \u201cThe West catches them young with cartoons and films,\u201d Ng\u0169g\u0129 warned, \u201cand they are not just catching their children – they are catching ours too.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe fight,\u201d Kiyimba explained, \u201cwas about giving colonial literature – full of snow, daffodils, and the Thames \u2014 a one-way ticket back to London.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Global Vision Rooted in Africa<\/strong><\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Despite his global fame, Ng\u0169g\u0129 remained deeply grounded in Africa. His lectures and writings drew parallels between African struggles and those of oppressed peoples elsewhere – from the Aborigines of Australia to the Irish under English rule.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe never tired of asking,\u201d Kiyimba said, \u201cWhat does freedom mean after independence? Can a continent whose languages are silenced ever be truly free?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ng\u0169g\u0129 envisioned an Africa that no longer sat at the margins begging for recognition, but one that stood confidently at the centre of its own story \u2014 speaking in its own tongues, writing its own futures.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Nobel Debate and the \u2018Nobel of the Heart\u2019<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Though nominated three times for the Nobel Prize in Literature, Ng\u0169g\u0129 never received it. But, as Prof. Kiyimba observed, the writer himself dismissed the disappointment. \u201cHis true prize,\u201d he once said, \u201cwas the joy of hearing that his words had touched someone\u2019s life – the Nobel of the heart.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

African writers and critics, Kiyimba added, agreed that Ng\u0169g\u0129\u2019s greatness cannot be measured by foreign awards but by his enduring influence on African thought, language, and liberation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ng\u0169g\u0129 the Family Man<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Amid the tributes to Ng\u0169g\u0129\u2019s intellect, Prof. Kiyimba painted a tender picture of the man at home – a devoted husband and father who raised a family of writers. Between his wives, Nyambura and Njeeri, he had ten children, six of whom are published authors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAt family reunions,\u201d Kiyimba joked, \u201cthey turned editing into a competitive sport – correcting each other\u2019s sentences before the food got cold.\u201d It was, he said, \u201ca home where language was not just a tool, but a shared inheritance.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Makerere, Memory and the Next Generation<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Returning to Makerere\u2019s place in Ng\u0169g\u0129\u2019s story, Prof. Kiyimba said the university remains central to the writer\u2019s legacy. \u201cNg\u0169g\u0129\u2019s journey from the Makerere of 1959 to the global stages of literature reminds us that great ideas often begin in humble classrooms,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Ngugis Portrait in memory of his works<\/strong><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

To the young scholars in attendance, he urged: \u201cNg\u0169g\u0129\u2019s life teaches that literature is not a luxury – it is a way of seeing, a way of being, a way of freeing the human spirit.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Living Ancestor<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

In his closing words, Prof. Kiyimba described Ng\u0169g\u0129\u2019s life as \u201ca long poem – written in courage, faith, and imagination.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe gave us stories that continue to speak to our times. He reminded us that the writer\u2019s duty is to remember, to resist, and to renew. Ng\u0169g\u0129 was the kind of man who would tell truth to power \u2014 and if power didn\u2019t listen, he would write it down, publish it, and make sure the whole world listened instead.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEven those who never read him have something to remember him for,\u201d Kiyimba concluded. \u201cLet us celebrate him not as a departed hero, but as a living ancestor – the griot of the modern world, the keeper of the African word, the eternal Makererean. May the work you did thrive, and the languages you fought for continue to flourish.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n