WHEN THE FINAL CURTAIN FELL ON PIONEER AGRICULTURALIST AND EDUCATIONIST IN LUO-NYANZA MZEE ABSALOM OUYA NYANJONG WHO DIED AT THE AGE OF 92 YEARS.
Writes Leo Odera Omolo in Kisumu.
Death has occurred of Mzee Absalom Ouya Nyanjong’, a pioneer agriculturist and educationist in Nyanza province, who passed away on Wednesday this week at the Aga Khan Hospital in Kisumu City.
Mzee Ouya was born in 1917 at Nduru in Kabonyo sub-clan of the larger Jo-Kano clan of the Luo community. He received his education at the Maseno CMS Missionary School in the early 1930s and later served as the first African Agricultural Officer in the entire Nyanza Province during the colonial era.
Among his schoolmate at Maseno was the late Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, who was later to become one of the leading African nationalists in Kenya who had championed the struggle for political independence. Jaramogi also become the first Vice President of the Republic of Kenya at the independence in 1963.
Mzee Ouya is survived by several widows. He is credited for having ensure that all his children numbering dozens received good education.And now the young Ouyas are well spread in all corner o the world. One of his sons Mr Lumumba .Ouya a lawyer by training is the Town Clerk of LondianI Town Council in the Rift Valley Province.another lawyer Mr. Alphonce Ouya is currently working in Johannesburg in the Republic of South Africa, while other young Ouyas are found in the United King Dom and the united States.
After serving in the colonial era, Mzee Ouya retired and moved to Muhoroni Settlement area where he bought a large scale sugar cane farm, and established business enterprises in Muhoroni town. Owing to his training in agriculture, Mzee Ouya became an adviser to the Ministry of Lands and Settlement and helped in settling thousands of new settlers in the muhoroni,Koru,Fort-Tennan and Chemelil settlement scheme. He also helped the new farmers established several primary farmers cooperative societies and later Kisumu District Farmers Co-Operative union.
.
Despite of his advancing age, Mzee Oouya was a credited organizer and mobilizer who organized many Harambee self help projects. e contributed generously toward those projects.
In his latr years, Mzee Ouya had dedicated his life to Christianity and single handedly contributed a colossal amount of money for the construction of the ultra modern Odienya CCA Church in Kaboyo Nduru.
A very resourceful man Mzee Ouya’s generosity was well extended to other unfortunate families paying school fees for children from poor families, and tirelessly advising parents to educated their children, always telling the parents that better education was the key note to the realization of development and good life.
Ends
leooderaomolo@yahoo.com
– – –
Date: Wed, 3 Jun 2009 21:30:29 -0700 (PDT)
From: Leo Odera Omolo
Subject: DEATH OF A PIONEER LUO AGRICULTURALIST AND EDUCATIONALIST AGED 92