NAIROBI, Kenya, May 10 – The Kenya Editors Guild (KEG) has launched an annual memorial lecture in honour of Philip Ochieng, the linguistic titan who died last week aged 83.
The Philip Ochieng’ Lecture Series on Journalism for P.O. as he was fondly referred to by his professional colleagues will be held on every second Friday of May starting in 2022.
“We are doing this in honour of Philip Ochieng and for the development of journalism in the country,” said Churchill Otieno, the KEG President when he launched the annual lecture at a session organised by the guild to remember the life and times of the legendary journalist who remains unmatched for his mastery of the English language.
The session at the Stanley Hotel in Nairobi brought together professional colleagues, senior Editors from various media houses, scholars and veterans in the industry, some of who took part virtually.
“I was very shocked and sad to hear of the passing on of Philip Ochieng,” said author Ngugi Wa Thiong’o who went to school with him, “he and I were classmates at Alliance High School in 1955-1958.”
PO prominently features in Wa Thiongo’s memoir of Alliance, “I have written about his table tennis playing skills.”
Veteran journalist Wangethi Mwangi recalled his days with Ochieng in the Nation Media Group, describing him as a “great mentor who will be remembered for perfection in everything he did in journalism.”
And for veteran editor and journalist, Joe Odindo, “Philip exemplified to us that journalism without knowledge is like an empty vessel.”
Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC) Managing Director Dr. Naim Bilal who also worked with Ochieng in the Nation Media Group described him as a “man who influenced journalism and politics in a very significant way. We honour and celebrate this great man today.”
CAPITAL FM’s Editorial Director Bernard Momanyi also remembered Ochieng for having mentored many journalists, through his work, saying he has left a legacy that should be emulated.
“As journalists and Editors we should ask ourselves what are we leaving behind. Philip leaves behind the legacy of the use and mastery of the English language,” said Momanyi who also challenged the KEG and the Media Council of Kenya (MCK) to consider introducing an annual journalism award in Ochieng’s honour.
Joe Ageyo of the Royal Media Services (RMS) said “Philip was an enigmatic and mystical figure that most of heard of when we came to newsrooms. Philip was many things, he was intellectual and journalistic. You would not read his columns and feel nothing.”
Ochieng Rapuro, the Editor-In-Chief at Standard Media Group, said of Ochieng, “From his pen came thoughtful, deep and purposeful works not only served in the finesse of English language, anchored in history and literature but also spiced with ideology and conviction.”
Standard Media Group’s Executive Editor and Head of News Kipkoech Tanui, who was trained by the late Ochieng said, “What place did the dictionary occupy in PO’s life? Mutuma my classmate would attest to this, he never wanted one to read his piece with one on the side. Why? He believed that the meaning of words is derived from usage and context, and only the lazy and dimwitted would seek refuge in a dictionary.”
Veteran journalist Rose Lukalo who is among the few who worked with Ochieng urged journalists to always “strive for the sense of perfection and the sense of duty in newsrooms again, just like Philip did.”
Ochieng, known from his mastery of the literary word had retired from the Nation Media Group where he worked for several years, publishing a weekly column in the Sunday Nation.
He previously worked at the defunct Kenya Times newspaper that was owned by independence party KANU.
And even after his retirement from the Nation Media Group, Ochieng kept watch of the use of grammar, with his Mark My Word column that was published every Sunday.
Ochieng’s story is told in The 5th COLUMNIST, A legendary journalist, one of the few books written about the media and professionals in Kenya.
In the book, a biography of Ochieng is told by Liz Gitnga-Wanjohi, who details how the veteran journalist beat odds to become a top journalist in the country, and perhaps the region.
He was born and brought up in Awendo where he started his primary school before he joined the prestigious Alliance High School in Nairobi.
Ochieng scored highly and was among the top 10 performers at Alliance where he got admission to a top university in the US where he was among the first beneficiaries of the famous airlifts of the late 1950’s organised by the late Tom Mboya and others.
He did not however, complete his studies, according to the biography.
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