FOR THE RECORD: Ngugi Wa Thiong'o Jokes About Elusive Nobel Prize

In the late 1970s, Ngugi wa Thiong'o announced that he would not write in English anymore. University of California Irvine

Last week news reports had carried the story that the Kenyan author Ngugi wa Thiong'o was awarded his first honourary degree in his home country by KCA University (See Here). 

BBC Africa report continues:

Many experts opined that it was honour a long time coming - he has already received 10 honorary degrees from top universities across the world.

The author has become famous for being a leading champion in writing in African languages and writes many of his novels in the Kikuyu language.

His publishers say he holds the record for writing the most translated short story in the history of African writing. 

His short story "Ituika Ria Murungaru", which translates as “The Upright Revolution: Or Why Humans Walk Upright" has been translated in 55 languages.

For many years he has been tipped to win the Nobel Prize for literature. 

Ngugi joked at a writers gathering in Nairobi after the Swedish Nobel Academy announced the 2016 laureate:

This year, I missed on the Nobel prize. A battery of journalists had camped outside my house all night but when an Argentinian won the prize, they were very disappointed and my wife invited them for a cup of coffee to console them."