Lawyer Miguna Miguna has strongly criticized renowned author Ngugi wa Thiong’o’s open letter to President William Ruto.

In the letter, Ngugi expressed his disapproval of Ruto’s decision to sign Kenya off as a non-member ally of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). 

Miguna described Ngugi’s letter as “disappointing and hypocritical,” arguing that the author’s statement was “halting and not smooth.”

The vocal lawyer criticized Ngugi for his perceived inconsistency in criticizing past presidents Kibaki and Uhuru whom he claims were also “American lackeys”.

He questioned Ngugi’s silence on previous administrations’ alleged wrongdoings such as when he was forced into exile during Uhuru Kenyatta’s tenure in 2018.

Additionally, Miguna suggested that Ngugi’s criticism of Ruto might be due to the fact that Ruto is a Kalenjin, implying that Ngugi’s stance may be influenced by ethnic bias.

“Is Ngugi criticizing Ruto because he [Ruto] is a Kalenjin? If not, why didn’t he publicly criticize Kibaki and Uhuru Kenyatta who had committed similar crimes, and had also coddled imperialists?”

Miguna Points Out Ngugi’s Inconsistency

Despite agreeing with Ngugi on the issue, Miguna found Ngugi’s letter lacking in consistency and objectivity in its criticism of past regimes.

He argued that Kenyans expected more from Ngugi, given the author’s history and writing.

“Whereas I have criticized Ruto for his wrong-headed Haiti mission and agree with Ngugi on this point, Kenyans expected more from Ngugi. Much more!” noted the vocal lawyer.

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The lawyer also noted that his loud and long silence when the former regimes were oppressing Kenyans would not go unchallenged

“Because of Ngugi’s history and writing, they expected him to be consistent, balanced and objective about all Kenyan presidents and regimes.”

“However, his loud and long silence when Kibaki and Uhuru Kenyatta were incharge only to wake up when Ruto is in power cannot go unchallenged!”

Details of Ngugi wa Thiong’o’s letter

In his letter, Ngugi wa Thiong’o expressed his disturbance at the images of Ruto’s recent state visit to the USA, where the president was seen “seated on a chair, grinning, while Biden stood behind, his face beaming with satisfaction.”

Ngugi pointed out that this was because Ruto had reportedly signed off Kenya to make it a non-member ally of NATO, thereby making the country “NATO’s errand boy in America’s struggle with Russia and China to access the continent’s resources.”

Ngugi reminded Ruto of the history of NATO’s involvement in Africa, citing the example of how NATO allegedly eliminated Muammar Gaddafi so that Libyan oil fields, which Gaddafi had nationalized, would revert to the West.

He also mentioned the Haitians who were in the streets demonstrating, calling him a slave.

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“While you were inside the White House, Haitians were in the streets demonstrating, calling you a slave.”

He urged Ruto to read The Black Jacobins, written by a once Jomo Kenyatta Pan African ally, CLR James, to better understand Haiti’s history.

Ngugi also drew parallels between Kenya’s history as a British settler colony and the United States’ own history as a settler colony that took over land belonging to Native Americans.

He argued that Ruto’s decision to align Kenya with NATO betrays the country’s history of pride and independence, which was achieved through the Mau Mau struggle.

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