When an old man dies, a whole library literally burns to the ground. This was the case on April 27, 2021, when veteran journalist Philip Ochieng breathed his last after a short bout of illness.
It was a tough loss that was felt not just by his family, but also throughout the media fraternity and the entire country. Tributes came in from various places befitting the journalist that Philip Ochieng was.
Philip had had a hand in shaping journalism in Kenya for a period spanning nearly six decades. He worked first as a reporter, then as an editor for various newspapers and publications, among them The Kenya Times, where he was the Editor-in-Chief and Nation Newspapers, where he worked in different positions for a long time until he retired and continued to contribute as a columnist until his death.
Philip wrote one of the longest -running columns, “The Fifth Columnist”, for the Sunday Nation, where he shared his opinions on politics, socio-economic issues and current affairs.
Mark my Word
He also had a grammar column with the Saturday Nation, “Mark my Word”, which he used to correct editorial mistakes of Kenyan newspapers. Philip was also the author of two books the Kenyatta Succession, which he co-authored with his colleague, Joseph Karimi, and I Accuse the Press.
During the funeral, there was a suggestion that some of the books from his library be donated to a community library in his hometown of Awendo in Migori County. His family welcomed the idea, convinced that it would enable his legacy to continue growing and be felt around the community.
As a man who always had a book around him wherever he went, it would be great to donate some of the books he owned and those he authored, I Accuse the Press and Kenyatta Succession as well as his biography The 5th Columnist by former Nation journalist Liz Gitonga.
This would give the larger public the chance of seeking and finding the knowledge he sought in reading. We are yet to finalise this as we are still sorting out the books so as to decide on the ones that we will donate. Philip used to scribble corrections as he read his books and nearly all of them are covered with blue ink notes. This provides a challenge on which books are in a condition to be donated.
The family has already donated four sets of books, I Accuse the Press, the Kenyatta Succession and The 5th Columnist to nearby schools. The Kenya Yearbook Editorial Board also made available books that were part of the donations.
This followed a promise made on behalf of the family by his only son, Charles Ochieng, during his father’s funeral service. The family is likely to call upon other institutions, including Nation Media Group (NMG) for book donations.
Three local schools, Manyatta Primary, Manyatta High and Pe-Hill High schools, which the late Philip had ties with, were the first recipients.
Philip attended Pe-Hill, a Church Missionary School (CMS), topping his classmates and going on to join the famous Alliance High School at Kikuyu in central Kenya. He had intended to teach at Manyatta High School upon retirement but it did not come to pass.
The family is working on extending book donations to other schools by the end of next year so that the young learners can also get to acquire the knowledge that Philip sought in books.
They are also planning to set up a Philip Ochieng foundation. They will use the foundation to donate educational literature (textbooks and set books) to primary and secondary schools within Awendo Sub-County annually during the marking of the anniversary of his death.
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The family is also considering requesting NMG to compile Ochieng’s weekly articles into a book. The Saturday Nation column “Mark my Words” was particularly very informative and educative. To immortalise his work, the republishing of a few of the language articles would be a step in the right direction.
To crown Philip Ochieng’s physical legacy, the family plans in the near future to build a mausoleum that will be open to family members, friends and visitors from far and wide, who might wish to pay homage by seeing his final resting place.
pochieng186@gmail.com
