Kenya Stockholm Blog

With great sorrow and sadness, the family of Mr. Oyuga Odada hereby announces the passing of Mr. Abonyo Odada, a former Kenya-Stockholmer, who has just passed away in Kenya. The late Abonyo is the elder brother of Ochieng Nyambok, Abonyo Omiti, Oyuga Odada and Magak Odada who all reside in Stockholm.

The late Abonyo passed away in Kenya after a short illness. According to a family source who spoke to KSB soon after receiving the sad news, Abonyo had no known illness but suddenly became unwell at his home village in Kabondo after which he was rushed to hospital.

“He developed chest pains at home and soon begun to experience difficulty in breathing. He was then rushed to hospital where he passed away”, the source told KSB.

Following the sad and shocking news, an “Open House” has been set up daily at Odada’s residence at Olshammargsgatan 61 in Hagsätra. A major Prayer Meeting/Harambee will be held at the same venue on Saturday, 14th November 2015 from 14.00 sharp.

A Family Support Committee headed by Mr. Ochieng Nyambok has been set up to help the family cope with the shock that has struck the family and brought all activity to a standstill.

The late Abonyo, who was in his early seventies, was among the first Kenyans to arrive in Sweden in 1973 after the late James Wuod Maggero who landed in the sixties. In 1995, Abonyo returned to Kenya for good to start a new life in the village after decades in Sweden although he left many friends behind.

Obviously, Abonyo’s younger siblings are planning to travel to Kenya to bid farewell to a loved brother, a father, an uncle and a friend to many people who knew him as a principled man who never wavered when it came to speaking his opinion especially on controversial issues.

Abonyo, who was a vehicle mechanic and who worked in Sweden for many years in the same profession, was a fiercely independent person whose political views never resonated with both the sitting government and the opposition. His view was that both politicians in government and the opposition were of the same political character marked by political opportunism, sycophancy, hero worship and mediocrity.

Mr. Abonyo constantly regretted the low political consciousness of millions of Kenyans which, he believed, had obstructed the introduction of ideological politics in Kenya, allowing opportunists to peddle tribalism, nepotism and mega corruption under Kenya’s deformed capitalist system that has been in place since flag independence in 1963.

KSB sends deep condolences to the entire family of the late Abonyo. We hope that the family will find strength and courage to go through this very difficult and trying moment marked with grief.

The late Abonyo was loved by everybody who appreciated his forthrightness and will greatly be missed by relatives, friends and foes alike. He was a simple man who left the sophistication of cosmopolitan life in Europe to settle down in the humble simplicity of a back-water village in Kabondo, never to return to Sweden. May God rest Abonyo’s soul in Eternal Peace. For messages of condolences or further information, call: Odada at 0736932714 or Nyambok at 072296544.

Okoth Osewe