Time is like the wind, it comes and goes and leaves us only with most fond memories like the treasured times with Brother Kenneth Cainan Orlale, Ken, as he was fondly known, was the second born to Enos and Mary Orlale in a family of five brothers and one sister.
He was born on January 14, 1957, at Pumwani Hospital in Nairobi, when our parents lived in Kaloleni Estate, in Eastlands area which was then reserved for 'blacks' during the dying years of the colonial era.
By then, according to our parents, Nairobi, the Kenyan capital city, was segregated with the leafy neighbourhoods West of Uhuru Highway reserved for 'whites' and the middle zone, Ngara, Parklands, South 'C' and South 'B' reserved for Asians.
Brotherly love
My brother started his school in Eastleigh, near the hospital where he had been born. One incident he shared with us later was how during one of his classes his Asian primary school teacher attempted to discipline him, but he protested and fled to the neighbouring class where our eldest bro, Martin, was being taught.
On receiving the report from the sobbing kid bro, Martin, stormed out with Ken in tow, entered KC's classroom and went to the accused teacher whom he roughed up and ordered her “never to touch my bro again!"
He then stormed out with Ken in tow leaving the teacher shocked and tears rolling down her cheeks as her students looked in shock and fear of the next move. The incident was later reported to our parents who warned Martin never to repeat such an act again. Meanwhile, Ken was a hero in his class for standing up for his rights and having a loving and tough big bro! But the School headmaster and his staff were not amused, they then took punitive action on Martin and Ken and showing them the door for indiscipline and disrespect of their teachers and their elders.
Later, the two were transferred to Kongoni Primary school, in South 'C' when our dad had resigned from Nairobi City Council and landed a job with Ministry of Public Works as a drafts man aka architect. We lived in Nairobi West ‘mbaos (timber houses’, where present Moi Education Centre is located on grabbed government land.
It was while at Kongoni that Ken met David Odhuno who became his classmate and friend who was his comrade in arms as they excelled in their studies and were always top of their class as they received awards and trophies at the annual prize-giving days.
Award-winner
Their friendship continued past primary to Lenana School through secondary and high school. I remember that our parents were also family friends and we used to visit each other when the Odhunos we're in Woodley Estate and we had moved to Moi Estate, in Langata area, after my dad resigned from Ministry of Works to join a new parastatal, National Housing Corporation (NHC).
Our dad had trained at Kenya Polytechnic after his primary school at Pumwani then proceeded to Ambira High school in Ugenya and Dr Grey Memorial School in Kampala, in Uganda.
Our father’s dream was to get admission to the famous Makerere University also in Kampala, but he missed the cut off points by a whisker in the late 1940's. Our father later graduated and returned to Kenya where he went to Nairobi Polytechnic (has since been renamed Technical University of Kenya) and graduated as a draftsman.
After sitting his CPE at Kongoni, bro KC as he was fondly known to his buddies, threw tantrums, rejected and contested the results and refused to repeat as requested by the school headmaster saying he was sure the examiners had made a big mistake. Our parents had no option but to side with him as they made a formal request to Kenya National Examination Council to re-mark his Mathematics, English and General paper.
Meanwhile, they applied to Aga Khan High School (private one) as a stop gap measure, where he was admitted for one term as 'the mess' was being sorted out Eventually when the results were released, Ken’s scores were 'As' and 'Bs' and not 'Ds' and 'Es.'
KC rejected his CPE results
Indeed, KC’s tantrums paid dividends and he was vindicated!The next term, he walked confidently to Lenana School which was his first choice, with his 'flying colours' results slip, with my dad in tow out of our family Volvo 242 saloon, into the office of Principal James Kamunge, who didn't hesitate to admit him.
Kamunge was the first African principal of the school started in 1949 by the colonial government exclusively for sons of white settlers, it was called, Duke of York, before being renamed after independence in 1963 in honour of a former Maasai Laibon, spiritual leader of the community.
Among Ken’s best friends during his four years in secondary and two in high school in Lenana were: Earnest Kiano, Angelo Lamb, Hoffman Mogaka Ayodo, Nyangweso, David Gachago, Francis Kimbui, Fred Oduor, David Odhuno, Frank Ngaruiya, Melvin Dilima, Thomas Nyangweso and Hillary An'gawa among others.
During school holidays, he enjoyed playing chess with our dad and some of us, siblings, neighbours and friends. He was so good at chess that our dad would 'favour' him over the rest of us.
Bro KC also introduced us to Scrabble and used to thrash us at that game leaving us feeling frustrated and unhappy but glad to have learnt, many new words and enjoyed his skills and good sense of humour.
Highlights of his Lenana days was the prize-giving day when he was acknowledged and rewarded severally; one of them was with a book authored by Julius Nyerere, the first President of Tanzania.
KC was a social and an amiable person and loved to organise house parties in our Moi Estate house, later in Ngei II and Olympic Estate Kibera houses where his Lenana schoolmates like Earnest, Ayodo and Oduor were regulars.
Bro Ken had many girlfriends, and I recall one of them told him she loved him so much but was not ready to get more involved with “a car-less graduate!” That broke his heart and made him discontinue being a boarder at KU and meeting with her in the campus, and opted to be taking a 27-Km bus ride to and from our family house in Olympic Estate to the campus every other day for his courses and studies.
He was also adventurous and used to lead us in nature trail in Ngong Forest and a hike up Ngong Hills. KC's ambition after passing his 'O' level Form IV, Certificate of Secondary Education (CSE), and ‘A” level Form VI national examination was to pursue a course in law, but he missed the cut off point by a whisker and had to settle for Bachelor of Arts in Education instead at Kenyatta University College, which was then a constituent of University of Nairobi.
He soldiered on and graduated with an Upper Class and landed his first job under Teacher's Service Commission (TSC) as a teacher at his old school, Lenana. KC taught there for two terms, about six months; some of his students were Jimmy Kibaki (eldest son of former President Mwai Kibaki) and Philip Murgor (Senior lawyer and former Director of Public Prosecution) before he resigned and went into book sells as a Country representatives for two British publishers; Evans Publishers and later Edward Arnold Publishers, for over a decade crisscrossing the country "sweet taking" headmasters, teachers, education officials and book store operators to buy his books.
Illustrious career
Later, he decided to think outside the box and ventured further afield to Namibia, in Southern Africa, in early 1990s, as one of its pioneer expatriate teachers. His illustrious tour of duty lasted for about five years and he used that opportunity to encourage fellow Kenyans to venture into the new frontier. Some of them were Prof Daniel Okeyo, Dr Harry Kajwang, Charles Mwangi Kamau and Charles Kariuki.
Some Kenyan students also benefited from his connections in Windhoek for further studies; they were his daughter Sheeru Orlale and cousin Vincent Odhiambo; others were Zeddy Jimbo.
Charles Kariuki’s experience was most unique. He rode in KC’s loaded pick-up car with curious during the marathon 4,295 Km. and two-day trip from Nairobi through Tanzania and Zambia to Windhoek where he tried his skills as a trader and hawker.
KC returned to Kenya where he run some business ventures in Nairobi by fast foods café, off licence liquor store and ‘deadly business.” In the latter, he converted his matatu (mini bus) into a hearse over the weekends and would transport mourners to their various home villages in Nyanza and Western province (since renamed as regions).
Ken’s yearning to achieve his dream eventually yielded fruit when he purchase land in Lambwe Valley in Mbita Constituency, 15 Km. from Homa Bay Town, and started a high school, named after our grandfather, Seth Science Preparatory School.
Bro Ken's dream was dimmed by the Grim Reaper on the eve of his 45th. Birthday, 20 years ago, on January 10, 2002, when he succumbed to a bout of pneumonia. KC is survived by two widows, Lydia Muthoni Njenga and Rose Gathoni Masao, and five children; Sheeru, Njenga, Okon'go, Aoko and Bernice.
Others are a son and a daughter in Namibia whom he named after his father, Enos Martin Cainan Shenyange, and Aska Ndaty, named after his maternal grandmother.
RIP Bro KC!
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