Flags at half-mast at Starehe Boys’ where Ken Okoth was scheduled to deliver a talk today

By Gloria Milimu.

Leaders and residents of Kibra eulogised the Late Ken Okoth as a beacon of strength and a pillar of hope who had gone too soon.

The urban sprawl of Kibra is where Okoth was born and raised.

As a young boy, he dreamt of a better life, not just for himself, but also for his community.

Today, as this tightly-knit settlement mourns its departed leader, it agrees unanimously that Okoth achieved those dreams in a spectacular fashion.

Those who spoke to K24 Digital, described the fallen lawmaker as a selfless and dedicated leader, whose short stint in the National Assembly changed the fortunes of Kibra spectacularly.

There was a sense of urgency in how Okoth approached the development of an otherwise deprived constituency. He built roads, equipped dispensaries, and schools.

To the hundreds of thousands of people who call Kibra home, he did more than just that. He inspired a generation of young men and women who had nothing but hope to cling on to.

“We have lost a leader who was passionate about the change we wanted for Kibra,” said Ali Noor Ibrahim, a resident of Kibra.

At Olympic Primary School, where Ken Okoth pursued his primary education, the flag flew at half-mast on Saturday in his memory.

And, at Starehe Boys’ Centre & School, where he enrolled for secondary education after scoring 613 marks out of the possible 700 in KCPE, a somber mood engulfed the institution’s fraternity.

He was scheduled to give a talk at the school today (Saturday, July 27) as part of an alumni programme.

In many ways, Ken Okoth was an inspiration. He rose from the trenches of Kibra to the corridors of one of the best secondary schools in the republic, and onwards to some of the best universities in the US and the UK.

In his times of poor health, he remained unperturbed and stoic.

And that is how many of the people, who rooted for him to beat cancer, wish to remember him.

A hero, beyond cancer, beyond death.