Veteran Kenyan Arts journalist Margaretta Wa Gacheru is dead after a long illness, the family has confirmed.
“This is a sad announcement of promotion to glory for Margaretta Wa Gacheru. Margaretta stayed strong until her final moments, displaying a resilience that inspired everyone around her. She fought bravely for life, overcoming countless challenges with grace and determination, until she finally found peace. Her strength will forever be remembered and her spirit will live on in the hearts of those who knew and loved her,” said the family in a statement.
Simply known as Wa Gacheru among her peers, the departed had been writing about the arts in Kenya for over 40 years beginning her writing journey in the country at the late Kenyan historian and journalist Hillary Ngwe’no’s popular publication Weekly Review.
She then moved to Nairobi Times and went on to establish her name as a seasoned arts Kenyan journalist also writing for Daily Nation and Business Daily.
Even as she vigorously battled health problems during her last days, occasionally showing up at culture and arts events with an oxygen cylinder, Wa Gacheru’s passion and zeal to tell stories didn’t waiver with her last article appearing on Business Daily last Friday, August 2.
“She wasn’t just an arts writer, she was my cheerleader, a very good friend.” Diana Mwango, Nation Lifestyle Lead Editor eulogised her,
Wa Gacheru first arrived in Kenya in 1974 as Margaretta Swigert, her then-middle name for her second Masters Degree in African Literature from the University of Nairobi. She went on to add two more master’s Degrees capping up all with a PhD in 2011.
Her stay at the University of Nairobi changed the course of her life for good joining the university’s travelling theatre group. By the time she had completed her studies, Margaretta had decided she wasn’t returning home to the US. She had also fallen in love with a fellow student Gacheru Wa Migwi, whom she married in 1978.
