Kenya’s 2025 Mashujaa Day celebrations placed arts and culture at the heart of national pride, honouring two icons whose creative work has defined generations — literary giant Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o and music producer Ted Josiah. The ceremony, held at Ithookwe Stadium in Kitui County, celebrated heroes and heroines who have shaped the nation’s identity, with this year’s theme centring on “creativity as a pillar of nationhood.”
While soldiers, political leaders and social reformers have often dominated national honours, this year’s list turned its focus to storytellers — those who have helped Kenya find its voice both in literature and in sound.
Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o’s recognition came posthumously, months after his passing earlier in 2025. Few writers have captured the Kenyan soul as powerfully or as consistently as Ngũgĩ did throughout his long career. From Weep Not, Child to Petals of Blood, his novels laid bare the scars of colonialism, inequality and the search for freedom.
But beyond his writing, Ngũgĩ’s life work was a political and cultural statement. In a nation still navigating its post-colonial identity, he dared to centre indigenous languages, insisting that true liberation meant telling Kenyan stories in Kenyan tongues.
The National Heroes Council cited Ngũgĩ for his “outstanding contribution to literature, education and the preservation of African cultural identity.” His advocacy for writing in African languages, his decades of teaching and his influence on writers across the continent placed him among the world’s literary greats.
Ted Josiah, the veteran producer, mentor and creative entrepreneur was among the few artists honoured during the 2025 Mashujaa Day ceremony. Recognised for “outstanding contribution to the development of Kenya’s contemporary music industry,” Josiah’s name sits comfortably among those credited with shaping Kenya’s urban soundscape in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
At a time when local music struggled for recognition against imported pop, Ted Josiah was one of the first producers to believe in Kenya’s own beat. From founding the legendary Blu Zebra Studios to nurturing artists such as Kalamashaka, Necessary Noize and Gidi Gidi Maji Maji, Josiah helped birth what would later be called “the Kenyan urban sound.” His fusion of hip hop, R&B and Swahili lyricism turned local stories into radio gold and made Kenyan youth proud of their sound
In recent years, Josiah has been known for his craftsmanship brand, the Joka Jok Leather Company, showing that creativity can evolve beyond the studio. Yet his name remains synonymous with the golden era of Kenyan music — a time when homegrown sounds finally ruled the airwaves.
