What Ngugi wa Thiong'o Taught Us About Freedom, Power, and Betrayal
Reflecting on the life and legacy of Ngugi wa Thiong'o, Dr Iqbal Survé explores the profound lessons he imparted about freedom, power, and the ongoing struggles faced by Africa.
Image: Independent Media
January 5, 1938 – May 28, 2025
Last week Thursday, 28th May, saw the passing of Ngugi, the East African novelist. He was widely regarded as East Africa's greatest novelist and one of the best in Africa. (He coincidentally shared a birthday with my son.)
He was unfortunate never to win the Nobel Prize for Literature despite being nominated several times and considered a favourite to be awarded the prize. Perhaps he had angered too many powerful people in Europe and among the elites. Ngugi understood Africa and the politics of the continent better than most. He explored through his novels the class struggles of ordinary people — a reality that remains with us today, as Africa continues to grapple with inequality and poverty. His work brilliantly intersected the personal and the political, a gift that reminds us that storytelling can be a form of resistance.
NGUGI AND HIS IMPACT ON MY THINKING ABOUT POST-LIBERATION POLITICS
The apartheid years — my formative years — especially the student movement in the post-1976 and 80s, were shaped by writers like Ngugi. For student activists and leaders, Ngugi's works were essential reading. We were fighting the apartheid system, a system of 'racial capitalism', race laws institutionalised to support economic exclusion. As activists and freedom fighters, we opposed this system, envisioning a non-racial society and socialism as a real alternative to benefit the people post-apartheid.
While we were imagining a post-apartheid South Africa grounded in the Freedom Charter, Ngugi was imagining a post-colonial Kenya, where genuine freedom would reach the people, not just the new ruling elite.
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THE NGUGI BOOKS I READ AND THEIR MEANING TODAY
Petals of Blood (1977)I first read Petals of Blood in my early student years, during my time in the SRC and the Committee of 81. It may even have been banned in South Africa then. We hid these books alongside many other struggle literatures, mindful of the consequences if they were found.
Petals of Blood was Ngugi's last novel written in English before he committed to writing in his indigenous language. The novel is set in post-independence Kenya and tells the story of villagers disillusioned by the broken promises of independence. Ngugi shows how the new ruling elite quickly resembled their colonial predecessors, a theme too familiar even today across many parts of Africa.
The Trial of Dedan Kimathi (1976)This play recounts the story of Dedan Kimathi, the leader of the Mau Mau uprising, who refused to betray his fellow revolutionaries under British torture. Many South Africans can relate to this heroism, the sacrifices made by anti-apartheid leaders who endured torture, imprisonment, and, too often, death.
A Grain of Wheat (1967)Set during the struggle for Kenyan independence, this novel grapples with betrayal, loyalty, and the burdens borne by revolutionaries. South Africa, too, has its stories of betrayal, of those accused of collaborating with apartheid authorities, of the tragic labels of impi and askari.
Ngugi was ahead of his time in laying bare the complexities and moral ambiguities of liberation struggles. His works continue to remind us: it is not enough to fight for freedom, what matters is what we do with it after it is won.
NGUGI WAS A SAGE
If He Could See South Africa TodayThe elites have benefited. The poor remain poor. Unemployment is massive. Racial capitalism, though no longer enshrined in law, endures in practice. Ngugi, a staunch anti-colonialist and communist, might have seen in our reality a confirmation of his warnings: that without vigilance and moral clarity, power merely changes hands without changing society.
Though I differ with Ngugi on communism — I do not believe it offers a full solution for South Africa — I do believe that Africa must remain focused on what works, whether that is found in the best of socialism, capitalism, or something altogether different. Ideology must not triumph over pragmatism.
We must be bold enough to accept uncomfortable truths: that we have, too often, failed to fulfill the promises of liberation. The struggle was noble, but the aftermath requires an even greater commitment to justice and transformation.
Ngugi's writings teach us that history will judge us not by our intentions but by the realities we create. If we care, if we truly value our people, we must reduce poverty and inequality, not in theory, but in lived experience. The past should inform us, but it must not chain us. Our focus must be on the now and on the future.
* Dr Iqbal Survé is the Chairman of Sekunjalo Group and the Past Chair of the BRICS Business Council & Co-Chair of the BRICS Media Forum and BNN.
* Follow Dr Survé's updates via his WhatsApp Channel.
* The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of IOL or Independent Media.
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