Professor Bethwell Ogot is dead

The late Prof. Ogot. Photo/Courtesy

News
Tools
Typography
  • Smaller Small Medium Big Bigger
  • Default Helvetica Segoe Georgia Times

By Jabali Media

Historian and author, Professor Bethwell Allan Ogot is dead.

The 95-year-old died on Thursday, January 30, 2025, while receiving treatment at a hospital in Kisumu.

Azimio leader Raila Odinga, was among the first leaders to share his condolence message.

“Prof. Bethwell Ogot was in the category of the now increasingly rare and outnumbered internationally known, deep, independent and professional scholars who treasured academic excellence and the value of knowledge to a community and a nation,” wrote Odinga in a post on social media.

He added, “Because of his scholarly work, we have a deeper understanding of who we are as Kenyans, the road we have travelled and the distance we still have to cover as a people.”

Odinga said Ogot will be deeply missed. “His legacy will however endure in the many works of history that he leaves behind,” he stated.

Kisumu governor Anyang’ Nyong’o joined in, stating that Ogot’s influence was felt globally.  

“His influence was felt globally, notably as the President of the International Scientific Committee for UNESCO's General History of Africa, which culminated in the publication of the comprehensive history of Africa. He also served as a member of UNESCO's International Commission for the History of Humanity,” he shared.

“Prof. Bethwel Ogot is one of the greatest scholars of our time. He has left a legacy of seminal works and historical treatises. A true thinker and intellectual par excellence. He now belongs to the ages,” mourned Siaya governor James Orengo.

The late Ogot hailed from Yala, Siaya County and will be remembered as a Kenyan historian and eminent African scholar who specialized in African history, research methods and theory.

He served as Chancellor of Moi University up to early 2013, after having had stints as a lecturer at Uganda’s Makerere University, before landing at the University of Nairobi where he chaired the department of history.