Renowed prolific writer Ngugi Wa Thiong'o who hails from Limuru in Kiambu County, has promised to set up a library in his former primary school, Kamandura.
Ngugi who was speaking in the school on Wednesday, said that the objective of the project is to help promote the reading culture among youngsters.
He also stressed the need for parents to teach their children their mother tongue to help them understand their culture and traditions.
“I am not saying that English or Swahili is bad because they help us interact with other communities and the world at large. I call that empowerment. But when you cannot speak your mother tongue, I call you a slave. Your mother's milk will never be bitter,” said Ngugi.
He noted that many parents are trying to teach their children foreign languages that they themselves do not understand while sidelining their mother tongue.
The professor of literature asserted that one's native language is their identity and abandoning it is equal to enslavement.
Ngugi has most of his literary work translated in his native language.