U.S.-based professors Cornelius Eady, Okey Ndibe and poet, dramatist, activist Micere Mugo, were among the distinguished writers and poets at the annual week-long ‘LitFest’ in Nairobi organized by the prize winning Kenyan author Ngugi was Thiong’o. It was Mugo’s first trip to the land of her birth since her exile in 1982.
 
The first woman faculty dean in Kenya in 1980, Mugo suffered arrests, police harassment and interrogations for her opposition to government human rights abuses which finally lead to exile with her two led to young daughters.
 
Along with Mugo, headliner wa Thiong’o challenged the attendees with the question:  “Are some languages more superior than others?” Local authors, he complained, were being forced into the “English Linguistic House” rather than capturing readers in local languages.
 
Ngugi asked why people were impressed when languages like French and Polish were learned and why the same people were puzzled if someone chose to learn Kisii and Dholuo.
 
As the festival drew to a close, long-awaited indictments were announced by the International Criminal Court for six high-level Kenyans accused of crimes against humanity during the disputed national elections in 2007.
 
Among the indicted are Uhuru Kenyatta, son of Kenya’s founding President, Jomo Kenyatta, Major General Hussein Ali, a former police chief, and Francis Muthaura, head of the country’s civil service.
 
In a TV interview, Ngugi challenged the prevailing explanation for the unrest as ethnic rivalry. Ordinary Kenyans, he said, have no quarrel with their fellow Kenyans. Instead, he claimed, the elites instigate one group of poor Kenyans against another group. If the ICC indictment means anything, he said, it is a warning that unprincipled politicians may no longer get away with their crimes.

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