Transition: Kiswahili scholar Prof John Habwe dies after long illness

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The Kiswahili scholarly community is mourning the death of Prof John Hamu Habwe, a distinguished linguist, educator and creative writer who passed away on Sunday night after a long illness.

Prof Iribe Mwangi, Chairman of the Department of Kiswahili at the University of Nairobi, announced the news, describing him as a great teacher for about 37 years who shaped generations of students and researchers.

“We have lost Prof John Hamu Habwe after being in and out of hospital for some time. The department of Kiswahili, the University and the Kiswahili world in general has really lost. Personally, he taught me from first year undergraduate and was the first for my PhD. I mourn him as a great mentor, linguist and creative writer,” Prof Mwangi said in his tribute.

Other scholars and writers also poured out messages of sorrow, describing his passing as a monumental loss to the Swahili literary world.

Author and academic Mwenda Mbatia recalled their shared journey, saying they co-hosted the radio programme Lugha Yetu, compiled short story anthologies, grew the Mwamko journal and attended conferences together.

“Kiswahili kimefiwa,” he said. Dr Knock Bitugi Matundura of Chuka University observed that although his death was a great loss, Prof Habwe’s works would live on as a lasting monument.

“Aliandika sana. Kazi zake za kifasihi na makala za kitaaluma zitaendelea kuwa mnara wa kumbukumbu kwa vizazi vijavyo,” he said.

Scholar and cultural activist Prof Kimani Njogu remembered him as a humble public intellectual, recalling meetings they held around radio programmes Lugha Yetu and Ukumbi wa Lugha, the Mwamko journal and advocacy work for the Kiswahili Council.

“Prof Habwe alikuwa mwanataaluma wa umma. Mola amlaze pema peponi,” he said.

Prof Habwe was one of Kenya’s most prolific modern Kiswahili writers, with celebrated novels such as Maumbile si Huja, Maisha Kitendawili, Pendo la Karaha and Kovu Moyoni.

He also authored Kiswahili grammar texts widely used in schools and universities, and his research spanned pragmatics, discourse analysis and sociolinguistics.

His impact is also felt in Junior Secondary School, where his novel Mshale wa Matumaini is among the official KICD-approved Kiswahili set books, taught alongside Hidaya, a novel authored by this reporter.

The University of Nairobi described his death as a great loss to academia and to the promotion of Kiswahili in Kenya and beyond.

Funeral arrangements will be announced later by the family.