I Will Marry When I Want Authors: Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o and Ngũgĩ wa Mĩrĩĩ

I Will Marry When I Want (Ngaahika Ndeenda), co-written by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o and Ngũgĩ wa Mĩrĩĩ, is a revolutionary piece of Kenyan theater first performed in Gĩkũyũ in 1977. Set in a rural Kenyan village, the play follows Kĩgũũnda—a peasant farmer and former freedom fighter—whose desire to see his daughter marry on her own terms clashes with the elitist expectations of a society still shaped by colonial hierarchies.

The story unfolds as Kĩgũũnda and his wife navigate offers of “assistance” from wealthy church-going elites who mask greed and manipulation with religion and respectability. As Kĩgũũnda asserts his dignity, the play exposes how capitalism, land dispossession, and cultural erosion persist long after independence—making the fight for freedom incomplete.

Through fiery dialogue, satirical critique, and unflinching realism, Ngũgĩ and Mĩrĩĩ use theater as a vehicle of resistance, challenging the complicity of the postcolonial elite and calling for true liberation rooted in indigenous language and communal empowerment.

Notably, the play led to the arrest and detention of Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o—marking it not only as a literary work but a historic act of political defiance. It remains an essential part of Kenya’s artistic and political canon and a clarion call for justice, autonomy, and cultural pride.