OPINION: E-Sir Was Not Great, Death Made Him

On Sunday, March 16, 2003, the Kenyan urban music scene was in shock. Issah Wangui Mmari was dead. He and his colleagues, among them David “Nameless” Mathenge, had been involved in a road accident at Elementaita on the Nakuru-Nairobi highway.

Fifteen years later, Issah, popularly known as E-sir, through his music, still lives. His immortalization is, however, a factor of his death, rather than his music. E-sir’s music is average, the lyrics meaningless, and its positive social impact, if any, untraceable.