Acclaimed literary giant and University of Nairobi Literature lecturer Professor Chris Wanjala has died after a short illness. Prof Wanjala died on Monday morning aged 75 while receiving treatment at the Moi Referral and Teaching Hospital in Eldoret. The chairman of the National Book Development Council of Kenya was rushed to hospital after complaining of chest and stomach pains, according to his son Alex Wanjala.
He said the late professor had just attended a funeral in Chesamisi area, in Bungoma County on Saturday and after he came back home, to Lwandeti, he complained he was feeling ill and was rushed to the hospital where he received treatment. He was meant to stay there for some days to have tests carried out, but he later complained of extreme chest and stomach pains and died early on Monday.
The literature don was revered among scholarly circles as a leading literary critic and historian with a noted wealth of knowledge on cultural issues, and his works through the years have spurn across different spheres, from columns in the Saturday Nation to books such as ‘Memories We Lost’, a collection of short stories which was chosen as a setbook for secondary schools.