By Oscar Obonyo

Last Monday, high profile mourners led by President Kibaki, Prime Minister Raila Odinga and Uganda’s Information minister Aggrey Awori landed at a tiny village in Funyula constituency, bringing activity to a standstill.

Mourners, some from as far as Denmark, the UK, US and Germany, trouped to Funyula to bury renowned industrialist, Hannington Habakkuk Awori — brother to former Vice President Moody Awori.

But Hannington is just one of the great Kenyans from the dusty Gulumwoyo village near the Kenya-Uganda border. About hundred metres from where he was laid to rest, are remains of an even greater Kenyan — independence hero, Wycliffe Work Waswa Awori or simply WWW.

And historians are awed by the fact that the VIPs, particularly the Head of State, came this far only to leave without paying homage to WWW.

Freedom fighter

WWW was a pioneer politician from Western Province who served in the Legislative Council (now Parliament). He represented North Kavirondo (present day Western Province) in the Legislative Council between 1952 and 1956, where he was a forceful critic of the colonial administration.

Born to the famous family of Anglican clergyman, Canon Jeremiah Awori, the former VP’s elder brother was well wired internationally. He is most remembered for flying to Britain to convince and bring English lawyer Noel Pritt, who represented founder President Jomo Kenyatta and five others during the infamous Kapenguria Six trials. Throughout that period, WWW reportedly had one of the most tiring experiences, driving the lawyer friend through the rough terrain between Nairobi and Kapenguria, over 700km away, using his personal car.

"The roads were in a sorry state. In fact, by the time the historic exercise was concluded, his car was a complete write-off. He could not even sell it to a secondary buyer," recalls Mrs Mary Okello, his younger sister.

"WWW was such a large-hearted big brother, very generous and pretty sharp," Okello, who is the director of Makini Schools, told this writer in an earlier interview.

WWW was at the centre of the independence struggle and his elder brother, Joshua Awori, remembers hosting founding President Mzee Jomo Kenyatta, Achieng’ Oneko, Bildad Kaggia and Paul Ngei in his Kakamega house in April 1952 — four months before their arrest.

"They were my brother’s guests and had come to recruit some trade unionists into their political movement," Joshua told this writer in an earlier interview.

At that time, Joshua worked in the Local Government Unit as Deputy Secretary of African District, in charge of Western Province.

Combining politics and writing skills, alongside politicians Pio Gama Pinto and EK Shaldah, WWW invoked the power of the pen to effectively fight colonialism.

And apart from members of the Kapenguria Six, he rubbed shoulders and worked with political heavyweights including the Kenya African Union leader and Defence minister, James Gichuru, with whom he was co-proprietor of a Kiswahili weekly, Habari za Dunia. Powerful minister, Tom Mboya, worked briefly as its editor.

WWW was also publisher of Radio Posta and edited Tribune as well as other publications in the pre-independence days.

The first known Luhya journalist, according to the website Abeingo Network, he also edited Sauti ya Mwafrika and in 1945 began a Luhya newspaper, Omuluhya, which lasted until 1947. The gist of the message in all the publications was one — a call to the people to emancipate themselves from colonial rule.

Despite staging the freedom battle on all fronts, WWW did not rise through political ranks. But his two brothers did. After a stint of a quarter century, Moody bowed out in 2007 as holder of the second highest office in the land, while Aggrey, a perpetual challenger of Uganda President Museveni is a Cabinet minister.

Joshua regards WWW, a firebrand debater, as the smartest and most versatile of the political Aworis.

"WWW started it all on a good note. The others joined over three decades later, Aggrey in 1981 and Moody in 1983 — and all with their separate fortunes," observes Joshua, 87.

Aggrey, explains Joshua, has taken after WWW’s style and tact. Like Aggrey, the one man who until recently caused President Museveni sleepless nights, his late brother endlessly tormented the colonial government.

Born in Nambale, Western Province in 1925, WWW died on May 5, 1978, after a short illness. He was educated at Kakamega High School before proceeding to Mulago Hospital in Uganda to train as a health inspector. Later, he worked as a health inspector with the Municipal Council of Nairobi. In 1945, he resigned and devoted his full time to politics and journalism.

WWW, who all along rubbed the colonial government the wrong way, was at one point jailed alongside other freedom fighters. But his father Canon Awori, a senior Anglican Church prelate, pleaded with the colonial government, through white missionaries, for the release of his son.

"Maybe had father not intervened, he would have served the full period in jail and possibly left the prison doors as a national hero of the stature of Kenyatta and other Kapenguria heroes," says Okello.

As in life, family members say WWW and Hannington, who was buried on Monday, were closely linked. Incidentally, they died almost the same month — 32 years apart — and at the same medical institution — Nairobi’s Aga Khan Hospital.