Revered Kiswahili author Ken Walibora is dead.
Walibora, 56, is also a former journalist whose Swahili literal works have made him a household name in the country.
He is reportedly said to have been knocked down by a matatu on Friday last week, April 10 along Landhies Road in Nairobi’s Central Business District (CBD) while crossing the road.
He went missing from then until Wednesday, April 15 when his body was identified at Kenyatta National Hospital Mortuary (KNH).
He worked at the Nation Media Group in the capacity of quality manager for Kiswahili until January 2017.
Siku Njema, a Kiswahili novel published in 1996 catapulted him to fame in Kenyan education circles. Kidagaa Kimemwozea, another of his famous works was used as Kiswahili set book in high school.
Walibora holds a doctorate in Comparative Studies.
Walibora served as an assistant professor in African languages at the University of Wisconsin in the US. He also worked at the Riara University in Kenya as a lecturer in the School of International Relations and Diplomacy.
Most of his literal works – Ndoto ya Amerka published in 2003, Kisasi Hapana (2009) and Sauti ya Mama published in 2015 have all won the highly-coveted Jomo Kenyatta Literary Prize.
