Prof John Mbiti: Renowned Kenyan scholar dies in Switzerland

Renowned Kenyan scholar Professor John Mbiti dies in Switzerland

Charles Ouma

October 6, 2019 2:30 PM

May his family and friends know peace

File image of Prof Mbiti hugging former CJ willy Mutunga

Kenya is mourning the death of celebrated scholar Prof John Mbiti who breathed his last today, Sunday 06 October 2019.

The acclaimed scholar is known for his outstanding work and contribution in philosophy and religion.

Responding to news about his death, Prof Makau Mutua stated that he had written about the acclaimed scholar and his works in his Sunday Nation column.

Renowned Kenyan scholar Prof John Mbiti dies in Switzerland Pulse Live Kenya

Mutua also prayed for peace while condoling with the deceased’s family in a post that read in part that "May his family and friends know peace".

Until his death, the deceased was an Emeritus Professor at the University of Bern and parish minister to the town of Burgdorf, Switzerland.

Outstanding works

He was also a visiting professors at various universities across the globe and an accomplished author and publisher majoring on philosophy, theology and African oral traditions across Africa and Asia, and ecumenism.

Professor John Mbiti was part of the team that collaborated on a book of African proverbs, collected from across the continent which was in itself an outstanding work.

Renowned Kenyan scholar Prof John Mbiti dies in Switzerland Pulse Live Kenya

One of his outstanding works is the book, African Religions and Philosophy published in 1969 and which challenged the popular narrative that traditional African religious ideas were demonic and not in line with Christianity.

Prof John Mbiti rise in the world of academia began in Uganda, taking him through to the United States before earning his doctorate degree from the University of Cambridge, UK in 1963.

Charles Ouma