BOOK REVIEW: 'Seizing the Moment - The Amazing Story of the Awori Family'

Authors: Horace Awori and Kondia Wachira.

Publisher: Afritell Publishers 2017

For the first time, thanks to a new book, Seizing The Moment, Kenyans and the world have a golden opportunity to enter and peep into the life of one of the country’s most famous and talked about family in politics, corporate world, business, academia and social life.

The 307-page easy to read book is authored by Horace Awori and Kondia Wachira, and is an amazing story of The Awori Family, that has produced the who-is-who in and outside government both in Kenya and in neighbouring Uganda for the past half a century.

The compelling story is about this large family of 16 siblings led by the first Anglican Church of Kenya Canon, Yeremiah Musungu Awori that has defied all odds and read the signs correctly, and been on record great as achievers in two countries.

Indeed, the most remarkable being when two of the Awori brothers were a breadth away from the presidency in Kenya and in Uganda at the same time. They were Moody Awori, also fondly referred to as ‘Uncle Moody’, during his tenure as Vice-President of the Republic of Kenya, 2003-07 under President Mwai Kibaki’s government; and Aggrey Awori, who was also bitten by the bug of politics in Uganda, where he served as a Member of Parliament for many years before making history in 2001 when he dared to vie for the presidency against President Yuweri Kaguta Museveni, and was third.

Moody, had previously served as MP for Funyula in Busia County for 25 years, and as Kenya’s longest serving Assistant Minister before his elevation; while Aggrey served as MP for Samia Bugwe in Ugandan before being elevated to the Cabinet in charge of Broadcasting and Information Technology by Museveni.

The two brothers are among 16 children of Canon Awori who have since excelled in their professions of choice in and out of Kenya. The pioneer Canon was is described in the book as “a great leader amongst the early Anglican priests in Western Kenya and Eastern Uganda” who became the first Luhya to be ordained as a priest in Western Kenya, which he used to play a leading role in reaching out and converting thousands of residents in that region.

Before writing the book, the authors reveal that Afritell Publishers had first stumbled on the Awori story in the run up to the 2013/14 edition of the Kenya Book of Records series when it was decided to seek and highlight top families in Kenya in terms of collective family achievements. “We spent a considerable time researching the Aworis, visiting them in their Nairobi homes and fact-finding in their respective rural homes. We now believe that we have a good story to tell – a positive story that will inform, entertain and challenge at the same time,” the author say in the prologue.

The duo have called it a “famography,” essentially an interrogation of several generations of a family, in an attempt to separate time, familial and circumstantial dynamics that help determine how a family “grows,” interacts and transmits from generation to generation.

The authors estimate that the oldest known Awori patriarch, Nambanja Muka, was born in 1785, and hence the famography (family tree) spans a whopping 230 years!

According to the authors, the fruit of Canon Awori’s efforts together with the inculcation of strong Christian virtues in the 1930s has seen his children, grandchildren and great grandchildren record spectacular success in various fields in the public and private sector.

Among the long list who are household names are: Dr Nelson Awori (pioneer transplant surgeon and kidney specialist); Dr Mary Okelo (first female manager at Barclays Bank and founder director of Makini Schools); Hannington Awori (former board member of several many blue chip firms and is an ex Technical Director East African Industries (EAI), which has since been renamed as Unilver); Prof. Judy Wakhungu (former Environment Cabinet Secretary), Jeremy Awori (Managing Director Barclays Bank); Horace Awori (journalist); W.W.W. Awori (former Nominated Member of the Legislative Council in 1952 to represent North Nyanza, later renamed as Western province, and is an ex Editor of Hansard, verbatim reportage of all parliamentary proceedings.); Joshua Awori (Commissioner of Anglican Church of Kenya); Horace Awori (author); Denis Awori (Kenya’s Ambassador to Japan); and Wasio Awori (architect) among others.

The patriarch of the Awori family had also served as a member of the coveted North Kavirondo (Western province) Local Native Council, but his greatest legacy is that eventually, as a model Christian Anglican Christian, he and his wife, Mama Mariamu, brought up a large family of 16, who now rank as among the most successful in Kenya and Uganda made up of top notch lawyers, engineers, politicians, surgeons, journalists, educationists, athletes, and diplomats among others.

Indeed, in the foreword of the book, Rev. John Tucker Sentamu, the Archbishop of York in the United Kingdom, describes it as: “a fascinating read, rich in story and detail, and a witness to the grace of God in Jesus Christ, our Lord.”