April 16, 2024

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

On April 4, 2024, a Zimbabwean journalist, Tafi Mhaka, published an article on the Al Jazeera

English news portal, “Ngugi wa Thiong’o: Literary giant, revolutionary hero, domestic abuser,”

which, as the title suggests, accused Professor Ngugi wa Thiong'o of having assaulted and

abandoned his first wife during the late 1970s. The article was based on a tweet that

misinterpreted a 1992 with the Kenyan Daily, The Standard, with his late wife, Nyambura Ngugi.

Mr. Mhaka never contacted Ngugi or other family members to corroborate the story, nor did he

consult the text of the article referenced in the tweet, which clearly contradicted the claim that he

abused and abandoned his wife. Instead, in the interview, Nyambura Ngugi explained, “Ngugi is

not only a very lovely husband, but a responsible father,” among other statements directly

contradicting Mr. Mhaka’s claim. The interview itself can be found here, scanned by an alert

reader and placed on Twitter, who also thoroughly debunked Mr. Mhaka’s article in the thread:

Mr. Mhaka's article is an example of precisely the kind of shoddy, accuracy-be-damned

journalism that is causing such great harm to the public sphere globally and to the ability of

people to trust the news. It attacks a literary icon who has, from the start, supported women’s

rights and the #MeToo movement in Africa and globally, weaponizing an important issue as a click

bait for an author’s personal gain.

Thankfully, when Al Jazeera English was contacted and provided with evidence that the story

was uncorroborated and contradicted by the voice of Nyambura herself, they swiftly removed the

article and put a disclaimer, as can be seen here:

https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2024/4/4/ngugi-wa-thiongo-literary-giant-revolutionary-

hero-domestic-abuser.

Prof. Ngugi, who is 86 and on dialysis, appreciates al-Jazeera’s journalistic integrity and

considers the matter closed, and asks anyone interested in this story to read the words of

Nyambura Ngugi herself.

Arch Dr. Isaac Kinungi

THE DIASPORA TIMES