Author professor Ngugi wa Thiong’o during an interview with the standard on February 7, 2019. [File, Standard] One of Africa’s most celebrated authors Ngugi wa Thiong’o has passed away. The Kenyan writer and academic was 87 years old. Having published his first novel – Weep Not Child – in 1964, Ngugi pursued a rich and acclaimed career as a writer, teacher and decolonial thinker. His last creative effort was Kenda Muiyuru (The Perfect Nine), a Gikuyu epic that was longlisted for the 2021 International Man Booker Prize. Here five things you should know about a legendary African writer. He understood the politics of his time Ngugi wa Thiong’o is regarded as one of Africa’s greatest writers of all time. He grew up in what became…