"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11
For Councilor Enos Seth Okongo’s Orlale, Jeremiah 29:11 was his guiding principle. He knew God had great plans for him and this is what gave him the hope and reason to live for and achieve his dreams. He ended up being the defacto first born son of Mzee Seth and Dinah Olale in a family of five brothers and two sisters after his eldest brother Tirus passed on at a tender age. Mzee Enos, as he was fondly referred to in his later years, did not hesitate to instill a sense of purpose and discipline upon his siblings because he was keen on their future, and he never hesitated to assure them that theirs would be a bright one if they dared hope and believe.
His father, Seth, was a pioneer student at the Native Industrial Training Department in Kabete (The current Kabete Technical Institute) which specialized in training African artisans to get them work-ready for the East African Railways and Harbours Corporation.
Enos and his siblings, the late Markmon Okeno Olale, the late Getrudah Nyagaya, the late Joseph Jotham Ogutu, the late Sospeter Ochieng Olale, Margaret Wasonga Nyawaka and Moses Onyango Olale were all born and raised in Nairobi. He was baptized at St. Stephen Jogoo Road Nairobi,
Like all children throughout human history, Enos was growing up fast and the dare-devil teenage years were setting in. Having sat for the Certificate of Primary Education at Pumwani Primary School in Nairobi, where one of his classmates was Mzee Stephen Ochieng the former Harambee Stars goalkeeper, his father found him a place to continue his studies at Ambira Boys Secondary School in present-day Siaya County. This was in the mid-1940s, and his father was acting in wisdom to keep his son away from the numerous temptations of the big city.
While at Ambira, Enos was an above average student and a leading rugby player thanks to their Principal, Mark Wellington Ombaka, who had imported the spot from his alma mater, Makerere University in neighbouring Uganda.
Road to Makerere
Upon his graduation from secondary school, his dream of joining the prestigious Makerere University was nipped in the bud by his grades, but that did not deter him from soldiering on and he travelled to Uganda and applied for admission at Dr Aggrey Memorial College. After his stint in Uganda, lovingly referred to as the Jewel of Africa, he returned home to Kenya and specialized in draftsmanship at the Kenya Polytechnic (the current Technical University of Kenya).
Tom Mboya and the Youthful Enos
The then KANU Secretary General was Tom Mboya, who doubled as an influential Cabinet Minister under the founder of the national, Mzee Kenyatta. On the eve of the 1963 General Elections, the draftsman, Enos was among the young adults who were in a youth group that supported and campaigned for Mboya to be elected on Kanu ticket as the first MP for Kamukunji.
Family Life
He met his childhood sweetheart - Mary Aoko Odhiambo at Makongeni Estate which was then the staff quarters of East African Railways and Harbour, and they got married a tender age. Being young people with a vision, they worked, maintained their focus and discipline and these were the qualities that were in play as they raised and educated their children up to university level, locally and abroad.
Mzee loved family. Every opportunity to gather his vast family together, inevitably led to an excuse to party. He always looked forward to hosting family get-togethers. He not only called them over for meals and conversations, but he went the extra mile to adopt and mentor the youngsters, many of whom he educated and followed up on their careers.
He was the son-in-law to the late Eliazaro and Aska Achuro, and Dorina Rimba Odhiambo. and a loving father to Martin Juma, the late Kenneth Cainan, the late Joseph Kimko, Daniel Odhiambo Orlale, Benjamin Oruko and Diana Faith Awuor Ouma, He was cousin to Joseph Amara, Gabriel Ochanji Ahenda, Joseph Ogutu Odundo and Edward Chanzi, among others. He was a brother-in-law to Jack Odhiambo, the late Frank Otii, the late Bob Okoth, Joyce Akinyi Auma, James Oluoch, among others. He was also a father-in-law to Paul Ouma. Maureen Okeyo, Pamela Sulwe, the late Lydia Njenga, Rose Masao, Ruth Amara, Rosemary Okello and Roselyn Najoli. He was a grandfather to 20 and great grandfather of seven. Loving uncle to Seth Omondi, William Orlale, James Aggrey Nyawaka, the late Vincent Odhiambo and Victor Nyagaya among many others.
His Work Life
Like one of his favourite authors, Ayn Rand, of Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged, he believed in making a difference and having a positive impact in whatever he set his thoughts on or laid his hands on to do.
At the age of 20, he successfully applied for his first job at Nairobi City Council (the precursor to the present-day Nairobi County government), where he was hired as a draftsman. He rose to the position of chief draftsman – just a rank away from becoming an architect. He spoke of mentors like Mr Johnstone Kamau, who later changed his name to Jomo Kenyatta, who was Kenya’s first president despite his humble beginnings as a colleague in the council’s Water Department where he worked as a water-metre reader and rode a ‘black mamba’ bicycle.
Enos and his wife Mary turned heads in Nairobi as the working couple. While the norm was for wives to stay home and look after their children and cook for their husbands, Mary had broken the mould by going on to work at the Standard Bank until her retirement in the early nineties. Unlike most African families at the time, they did not live in Eastlands but chose to live in Nairobi West (mbao houses) and sent their children to good schools.
After serving for almost a decade with the City Council of Nairobi, the ambitious draftsman applied for a job with the Ministry of Works where he was hired to be the head of the Drawing Office for another decade. The star for the budding draftsman was on the rise a decade later when he was promoted and seconded to head the Drawing Office at National Housing Corporation (NHC), a new parastatal under the Ministry of Works.
While at NHC, he literarily burnt the midnight oil doing part time jobs, that entailed working late into the night drawing designs for his private clients at a fee to help him and his wife, Mary Orlale, educate his six children and two nephews as well as putting food on the table.
Among his clients was Moses ole Marima, the first Member of Parliament of Narok, Prof Sam Ongeri (a former Cabinet Minister and current Kisii Senator) and offered pro bono services to St Barnabas Church, Otiende, where he was the chairman of the Building Committee in 1974.
While serving at NHC, he embraced philanthropy to become a founder member and chairman of the Lambwe Welfare Association (LVWA) where he helped to raise funds in Nairobi for various development projects in Mbita constituency in the then South Nyanza District, since renamed Migori and Homa Bay Counties.
Among his biggest projects in the 1980s, was Lambwe Secondary School where Mwai Kibaki, as Finance Minister graced the occasion on invitation of Alphonce Okuku, brother to the late Tom Mboya. History was made when they raised KShs. One million – a tidy sum of money at the time! Minister Kibaki donated a staggering Kshs. 100,000 from himself and friends 1980s.
During his work-life, Enos was usually referred to as “Mr Blue”! It was his favourite colour – whether it was his volvo car, or his sharp suits and ties or the things that adorned his living environment. He always had the blue currency notes lining his wallet – fondly known as the Lady Blue.
Fast forward to 1990, the LVWA boss retired from NHC and relocated to his village home in Lambwe where the bug of politics bit him. He then vied for the Lambwe West location ward on a Ford Kenya ticket and won the election with a huge margin as Councilor.
Lady luck smiled at him when the elected councilors converged in the district headquarters a week later and elected him the Homa Bay County Council Chairman. The next month, he led his delegation to Nairobi to attend the All-Local Government Authorities in Kenya (ALGAK) meeting where he was elected vice-chairman to Eldoret Mayor, Josiah Magut.
But his tenure was not smooth sailing. These was the heydays of the KANU government and through the provincial administration; the opposition leaders and politicians walked a tight rope. At one point, the chairman and all his over 40 councilors were arrested and locked up overnight at Homa Bay police station, a stones’ throw from his office, over misplaced allegations.
After his term of office, and all the wiser from his experiences in politics, the former Homa Bay Chairman concentrated on farming, his personal business, and a Luo-English Lexicon project, which was frustrated after he got a stroke.
His illness
The former councilor survived the Covid-19 pandemic, went for two inoculations, and lived to tell the tale. But three months ago, he got a mild stroke which he battled with. At one time, he was forced to see a doctor who prescribed a neck-brace to assist him for over three months because of the heavy load of work on his neck muscles. He was making good improvement, and despite requiring aid to walk, he was in good spirits.
However, as Wednesday 5th May 2022 dawned, he breathed his last as he slept peacefully just two months short of his 88th birthday that would have been on July 28th. At every opportunity Mzee never tired of speaking about the importance of peace within the family. The word peace had become a mantra for him, and we pray that we, his family, and friends will honour him as this was his final wish. Having outlived his wife Mary by 19 years, Mzee Enos leaves behind his four surviving children and their spouses, 17 grandchildren and nine great grandchildren.
He shall also be remembered as a man who opened his doors to everyone, a man who loved hard work and who was a stickler for time-keeping. In short, he was a gentleman.
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