Fidel death a big loss for Kenya’s social world

On June 22 last year, I received a phone call from an unusual friend. It was Fidel Odinga. Even though I had become close to him through the social and entertainment world, it was an unusual thing for Fidel to call the media or even grant opportunities for interviews. Humble and jovial as he was, he cared less what social and political class you belonged to. He was simply a friend.

“I want to fly you guys to Kisumu for the Dala 7s this weekend, you and your team. Be my guests,” he said, in his usual articulate tone. I knew Dala 7s was close to Fidel’s heart just as was many youthful social events. It was just months after he had been elected chairman of the Kisumu Rugby Union and he really wanted the Dala 7s rugby event to go big.

It had been close to three years since Fidel and I had a little clash in the line of duty. After doing an exclusive report on his luxury vacation with his then girlfriend and current wife in exotic Maldives Island, Fidel had been unhappy with me as he did not wish to be seen as an extravagant spender.

Worse still, a local blog had plagiarised the article and added some untruths to it before posting it online to Fidel’s unspoken fury.

Before the end of the day, he had caught up with the blogger and pardoned me. This is the incident that was to bring me close to Fidel and gave me an opening into his social life.

Besides attending the Dala 7s with him and his close friend and celebrity Jackson Ngechu, aka CMB Prezzo, we went ahead to hang out together during the famous Masaku 7s before meeting again in September at the Polo Club, where he had brought his wife and one-year-old son Allay for a weekend outing.

Active politics

Besides the political circle that his father, the CORD leader and former Prime Minister Raila Odinga was grooming him towards, the easy-going Fidel was less aggressive on political matters and more often than ever denied that he was ready to join active politics.

“Kwa sasa, tujenge vijana (for now, we empower the youth),” he would often say whenever the media asked him about vying for a political post.

Then he would urge: “Let’s meet over a drink and discuss business.”  And so in a few words.

Since his early days in Mbeji Academy in Nyanza and his eventual move to the United States where he went for his further studies, Fidel is said to have always posed as a friend to all characters, thus winning himself friends across the ages regardless of their social, political and economic class.

Fidel studied Business Management and Marketing at South Eastern University in Washington, USA.

“Fidel was the most easy going and social friend I have ever met. He was real to his friends and you would trust every word he said. He was never shy to do whatever he deemed right,” says radio host and entertainer Shaffie Weru, who was one of his close social friends.

“He loved to party with friends and many times, he would generously offer to pay the bills. We would party until dawn and never would he get bored or behave like people were taking advantage of his status and money. He was generous and easily won hearts,” Shaffie remarks.

Big brother

“What can I say? Fidel’s loss is a devastating blow to the social scene and to the youth in this country in general. He was like a big brother to all of us and he always had our backs. Whoever knows Fidel well knows what a warm man he was... ever close to his parents, a loving husband and father and a chap who was always real with friends,” says CMB Prezzo.

“Through him, I got close to his father whose political ideologies I have openly been supporting. The fond memories are many and at this point, I can’t say much as I am lost at the thought of his demise,” adds Prezzo.

And so do thousands of young people; general friends, showbiz icons and entertainment journalists echo the truth about the Fidel they knew.

Private life

“Fidel was one of the humblest people I knew. We weren’t very close friends but we checked up on each other from time to time. He loved his mother and father with his whole being. He was very protective over Raila Junior and he loved his cousin Carol Radull immensely. He loved life and lived his to the fullest,” notes celebrated radio host Maina Kageni.

A darling to his parents since birth, his father named him Fidel Castro after the Cuban marxist.

And as much as he was a cool and collected man who loved to keep his private life just that, controversy stalked him. He was once involved in a scuffle with a matatu driver, who he claimed had blocked his way, besides getting fined Sh30,000 by a Nairobi court after pleading guilty to drink-driving.

It was in 2007 when he had turned 33 that he opted to quit the bachelors’ club and got married to Veronica Wanjiru Ng’ang’a, in a ceremony that was attended by the who-is-who in the political and social strata. But as fate would have it, the marriage never lasted and after a successful divorce process in 2011, Fidel went ahead to marry Gatachew Bekele, an Eritrean beauty, whom he had know for years.

“They had dated close to two years before they got married,” affirms Shaffie.

Together, they have a one-and-a-half-year-old son named Allay.

The writer is the Editor of Pulse Magazine