On May 28, 2024, Kenya's most prominent author, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, sent a scathing open letter to President William Ruto, just days after the head of state returned from a state visit to the United States. "Ruto, you have chosen to betray to become an agent of the West.
Ruto, you have chosen to sell your country cheaply.
Why, oh, why?" wrote Thiong'o in his letter.
The author of "The River Between," "Decolonising the Mind" and other respected titles said he was disturbed by the image of Ruto sitting on Joe Biden's chair, grinning, while the US President stood behind him, "his face beaming with satisfaction." Thiong'o's criticism elicited eye-rolls from Kenyans who saw it as selective and jingoistic tribalism.
