We have let down our renowned writers and trivialised local art

The late Prof Micere Githae Mugo.

Prof Micere Githae Mugo, the Kenyan scholar and writer who died in the US aged 80, was no doubt a gift to African Art. Born Madeleine Micere Githae in 1942, she was variously a playwright, author, griot, activist, instructor and poet.

A literary critic, she had colourful stints as a literature scholar in a number of universities, including University of Nairobi, and taught African-American Studies at Syracuse University in the US.