Nairobi — Kenya's respected author and poet Professor Micere Githae Mugo is dead aged 80.

Her family said she died on Friday night.

Kenya's top leaders among them Chief Justice Martha Koome have eulogized Prof. Micere and praised her for the commitment she had in fighting for social justice.

"She will be fondly remembered for her unwavering commitment to social justice," the CJ said.

Narc Kenya party leader Martha Karua said Prof micere was an icon of the struggle for academic freedom and civil liberties in Kenya and beyond and a role model to many.

"It is a privilege to have known her and drank from her well of wisdom. Her immense contributions to humanity will live on," she tweeted.

Former Chief Justice Willy Mutunga too eulogized Prof. Micere as a true fighter for human rights.

Prof Micere was the first black student to be admitted to the prestigious all-white Limuru Girls High School in 1961.

It was said at the time that the colonialists were trying to establish if blacks had the same level of intelligence with whites and she performed well.

She will later become a political activist, mostly fighting for social justice and was arrested and forced out of the country in 1982 soon after the attempted coup.

She went to Zimbabwe from where she continued writing against social injustices in Kenya and her work is widely cited globally.

She, who was the founder of Pan African Community of Central New York, wrote several books and co-authored a play with Prof. Ngugi Wa Thiong'o.