The late Ken Walibora is arguably one of the most prolific authors in Kenya’s history with at least 40 books under his name.
Up to his death, Walibora was championing for the growth of swahili (language) beyond the borders and he tried it in different ways.
The Kidagaa Kimemwozea author is well remembered for playing a huge role in translating some of Microsoft and Google user instructions from English to Kiswahili.
All in all, Professor Ken Walibora had a major influence in the growth of swahili in Kenya.
Now muranganews explores the life of Ken Walibora, his family, death, his books and achievements through his writing career.
What happened to Ken Walibora?
First before we dive into Walibora’s journey as an author and a journalist we’ll have to look at how he passed away.
Ken Walibora’s death is mysterious up to date due to the manner of how he lost his life. This as the author was unconscious just after he was hit by a matatu at Landhies Road in Nairobi County, on April 10 2020.
Moments later, the celebrated author was rushed to Kenyatta National Hospital (by a good samaritan) where his condition was very critical.
According to Nairobi News, Ken Walibora was identified as an ‘unknown African male‘ at hospital as they couldn’t find his identity on time.
After the doctors completed some tests on Ken, he was found to have a bad head injury and this required intensive care.
However this wasn’t possible as all the ICU rooms at KNH were filled and the hospital couldn’t contact his family members due to lack of his identification documents.
The medics tried everything possible to save his life as he was still unconscious at the ward. Sadly, Ken Walibora died with no single family member aware of his condition.
Ken Walibora books
Without a doubt, Walibora was a legendary author in Kenya. He had an unusual talent for flawlessly replicating the culture through his flawless command of the Swahili language.
Some of the well known books by Ken Walibora Waliaula, include Siku Njema, Kidagaa Kimemwozea, Damu Nyeusi, Ndoto ya America and Ndoto ya Almasi among many more.
These books have had a huge impact not only in Kenya but also across the world.
For instance books such as Siku Njema, Kidagaa Kimemwozea and Damu nyeusi have been used as novels in Kenyan Secondary schools. In addition, Siku Njema was translated to English hence became more readable many people around the world.
Ken Walibora family
Apart from his professional job as an author and a swahili journalist (at Nation Media group), Ken was a family man.
He was married to a beautiful lady, Anne Chebet Walibora. The two were blessed with two daughters, Katila Samba and Sheila Zawadi. The family of the Swahili author is based in the United States of America (USA) .