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Comedian Mzee Ojwang’ Hatari mourned

They hailed him as an affluent supporter of upcoming comedians and a real legend whose big shoes will take ages to fill.

“The person I met was the humblest of all. I never thought someone with a name so big, could have been a person who was so humbled. His shoes are the same shoes that we are almost co-wearing with all other comedians and we still can’t fill them,” Humphrey Thuita, or Olematope as he is popularly known on Vioja Mahakamani remembered Ojwang’.

Ojwang’ touched the hearts of many with antics of being the tough, harsh yet old fashioned and most scared husband on the Vitimbi drama show.

Despite being a Kikuyu, many thought he was a Luo due to his ‘strong’ accent when he acted as a husband to Mama Kayai.

Having worked together for decades, Mama Kayai said she will never forget Ojwang’ as the nagging husband who always kept her on her toes even in real life.

“I have known Ojwang’ for very many years. One thing he liked telling me was ‘fanya haraka’ (hurry up). This thing is always lingering in my mind. Anytime I met him, I knew he will always ask me to hurry up. I don’t even know how to describe how close we were, he was like my brother, “she recalled.

The ‘prosecutor’ said he would miss the funny moments of a man who attracted him to the comedy world.

“He is a legend. He taught us about drama, I knew him when he was at Tausi Drama Club when he acted with South African legends like George Minoe, Kanvula, and Ann Wanjogu. We used to watch them at Bahati Social Hall. His acting is what attracted and inspired me. I wanted to be an actor like him, “Mbugua recalled.

Mzee Ojwang’s life was celebrated within and outside the humour industry.

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Condolence messages mourning his death and celebrating his talent on traditional and social media were a true description of Kenya’s big loss of a popular veteran identified as a forefather of the comedian industry in Kenya.

Born in 1937 in Nyeri, Mzee Ojwang’ dropped out of school in Form Two.

He began his struggles when he joined the job market at White Rose Dry Cleaners in Industrial Area before becoming a technician at Mater Hospital in Nairobi for about four years.

He then started acting for Darubini on Voice of Kenya (now KBC) in 1980. In 1985, he joined the Vitimbi show on KBC.

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