In Okatch Biggy’s song Okello Jabondo which was a tribute to his friend and fan who came to their rescue after a cancelled show in Muhoroni occasioned by heavy downpour, he mentioned a person by the name Okoth Wuo Nyawasi. ” Okoth Wuo Nyawasi buwinjo Pala onego… Gima kiny akia” Anyone who grew up or lived in Kisumu in the 90s either knew or heard about Okoth.
Okoth Wuo Nyawasi owned Fankatek Disco which was one of the biggest sounds in Kisumu then. Fankatek Disco was the resident sound at Lakers Kibos but would occasionally be hired to play in other clubs or events within and outside Kisumu. Fankatek was also one Disco with the most unruly and violent bouncers to have existed in Kisumu’s entertainment history. Okoth loved partying and was a big fan of Okatch Biggy and Heka Heka Band.
For those who don’t know, Okoth was the Son of Jaduong’ Paulus Omumbo Wuon Achola and a step brother to the late Akwacha of Hang-Over hotel popularly known as K’Akwacha. In our book ‘Sigand Kano’ , under our heroes and heroines, we have listed Omumbo Wuon Achola who was a very popular cattle trader and is remembered for bringing Roho Israel to Kolwa. We have also indicated that he was the father of Akwacha and Okoth among other things.
Okoth identified with the name of his mother Nyawasi and not the dad Omumbo, just as his other brothers that I’ll not mention in this piece. Nyawasi was very popular in Kisumu and beyond; She monopolized the name Nyawasi such that when you mentioned it, someone would quickly ask ” Min Okoth?” She was also respected and feared in equal measure. Nyawasi employed a number of people and largely invested in Kisumu town.
In the early 90s stretching to the fall of the 20th Century, you couldn’t talk about butchery business in Kisumu without mentioning the name Nyawasi. If you had a cattle to sell in areas around Kolwa, Kajulu, Kogony, Kanyakwar, Nyahera etc, the first person you’ll think about was Nyawasi. She had a number of butcheries in Kisumu and was the major supplier to institutions like hotels and colleges around. If her butcheries never had meat then never waste your time looking for it anywhere.
Okoth was a hard nut to crack. If trouble never looked for Okoth then Okoth would literally look for that trouble where it is hiding and provoke it. If he was not in problem with the police, then he was in problem with an individual. Okoth wouldn’t leave a bar or a club without beating someone OR snatching a lady from someone. He had a gang comprising of people like the late Oyare Katuk from Manyatta ( Katuk is a home in Manyatta)
One night at Lakers Club in Kibos, Okoth saw a beautiful lady and wanted her to warm his bed that night. A different version of the story say that the lady initially was Okoth’s girlfriend but they had broken up. The lady was in the company of two guys whom one of them was a army officer. Okoth confronted the guys at their table and a fierce fight started. Security at the club managed to separate them and Okoth went back to his table.
Few minutes later, Okoth followed the alleged Army officer while going for a short a call and urinated on him. This guy never reacted but decided leave with a taxi together with his other friend and the lady. On seeing them leaving, Okoth followed them with his Mercedes in his final attempt to have the lady and he eventually caught up with them and managed to overtake them near Havana’s Hotel before Corner Legion from Kibos side. He then blocked their way with his car.
The guy is said to have paid the taxi driver, instructed him to drive the other friends to a destination, then got out of the car to face Okoth. Immediately Okoth left his car to face him, he never waited, he pounced on Okoth with the knife and ensured he finished him before walking away majestically. No one followed him; No one thought of recording the taxi plate number ; No one knew his name apart from the rumour that he was a army officer. Everything ended that night. He boarded another taxi and they drove away.
” Okoth Wuo Nyawasi buwinjo Pala onego…gima kiny akia” loosely translated as Okoth son of Nyawasi, have you heard the knife has killed him.
By Nairobi