News vendor has seen it all after 50 years on the streets

At 67, Walter Odum has neither been to journalism school nor visited a media house. But the father of eight can tell you which newspaper headline sold out since he began selling daily papers in 1968.

"July 6, 1969, all newspapers sold out. People sobbed as they read and some tore up the papers immediately after reading them,” he recalls.

The front pages of all the national newspapers on that day told of the assassination of former trade unionist Tom Mboya.

Odum, who was a year old on the streets of Kisumu, sold all 200 copies he had that day.

“I did not manage to get to the stand with my papers. Uncontrollable crowds had already gathered at the distributor's place," he recalls.

The next memorable headline was sometime in July 1976, when Israeli Commandos stormed Uganda's Entebbe International Airport in a daring operation to rescue hostages.

When news of the raid leaked, newspapers on Kisumu streets sold out.

Sold out

And when Kungu Kirumba, one of the 'Kapenguria 6' Mau Mau detainees, disappeared on June 14, 1974, the newspapers sold out again.

This year, Odum marks 50 years since he began selling newspapers in Kisumu.

He has been in the business so long that he no longer views himself as a newspaper vendor. Instead, he says he sells information; sometimes, he sells history.

“When I hold up a paper to sell to a client, it is not the paper I am selling. I am selling the information in it," he says.

Over those 50 years, Odum has learnt to tell what front page headline will sell and which one will not.

And after spending his entire adult life selling information, Odum says he is ready to hang up his boots, but not before sharing his long journey with fellow vendors and faithful clients.

The journey began when Odum, then a strapping 17-year-old, set foot in Kisumu for the first time. He had just completed primary school and his brother-in-law had offered to host him in the lakeside town.

Primary school

As fate would have it, Odum would not proceed beyond primary school after sitting his Certificate of Primary Education exams at Ndira Primary School in 1967.

His father died when he was 11 and his mother simply could not afford fees for secondary school.

“I could not go on with my education and it was then that my brother-in-law, who lived in Kisumu, asked me to visit him,” he said.

The brother-in-law was a newspaper vendor in town and as soon as Odum arrived, he was introduced to the business.

Soon he was earning Sh1.20 per day from selling newspapers. He spent 20 cents on lunch and the rest was faithfully saved until the end of the month.

One year later, his brother-in-law introduced him to newspaper distributors and Odum opened his own distribution account. It was a giant step for him.

“We used to operate along Accra Road but when I got my own account, I moved to the main bus stage,” he said.

To supplement his income, Odum started a shoe shine business next to his newspaper stand. But when his wife died in 1976 - barely two years after their wedding - he lost his vantage position while he was away burying her.

"I stayed a long time in the village and some people took advantage of my absence to grab my space at the bus stop," he recounts.

In the late 1970s, he went back to work but moved to Oginga Odinga Street, where he spent a decade selling papers.

The brother-in-law who had mentored him in the business died in 1991, and Odum inherited his spot along the Jomo Kenyatta highway.

For 27 years, the spot opposite Kisumu Hotel has been synonymous with newspapers and Odum. Waking up at 3am every day for more than two decades, Odum has faithfully delivered news to both the mighty and the small.

“I have clients who have subscribed and I must drop the newspapers at their offices before I start selling on the streets. By 9am, I am settled at my stand to wait for clients,” he says.

Odum has sold newspapers to nearly all major politicians in Nyanza region and beyond, including Opposition leader Raila Odinga, Kisumu Governor Anyang’ Nyong’o and others.

Modern technology

He says he is a living testimony that modern technology cannot replace newspapers. He started selling newspapers long before the entry of mobile phones and when the internet was unheard of in the lakeside town.

Nothing has changed.

“I started selling newspapers when they cost 40 cents per copy, and I have earned a living, taken my children to school and built my home through selling newspapers,” he says.

Odum concedes he has only met a few of the people who write the stories he sells. His wish before he retires from the job he adores is to visit a newspaper printing plant, meet a few writers and celebrate his golden jubilee with other vendors.

He has only one piece of advice for fellow vendors: “This business requires resilience and patience. I have seen many people come and go."