Hundreds of performing artists from across the country are expected to attend the burial of a pioneer actor and human rights activist James Ojwang Osoo at Mbaraki Cemetry in Mombasa on Saturday.
Ojwang, 48, who was working as a security officer at Security Services Transguard Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, nurtured many performing artists at the Coast and in Kenya, including Citizen TV’s Lulu Hassan.
He collapsed at the company residence on the morning of December 6 and was rushed to hospital in an ambulance but was pronounced dead on arrival.
A post-mortem conducted on his body later indicated he died of cardiac arrest.
Two days before his death, Ojwang had complained of chest pains to his sister Millicent Akinyi, who is in Alabama, in the US.
Through the social media application WhatsApp, Akinyi advised Ojwang to seek medical attention.
It is not clear whether he heeded this advice and on the morning of the fateful day, after breakfast, he complained of chest pains again but this time they had become severe before he collapsed.
He had been working in Dubai for over 10 years.
His body arrived in Mombasa from Dubai on Tuesday at around 11 am aboard a Kenya Airways flight.
It was received by family, relatives, and friends, including hundreds of artists in the theatre scene.
“He is among the pioneer actors at the Coast. He nurtured many of us, including myself, before I moved into activism. He was among the founders of Kizingo Arts Troupe and had a stint with Muslims for Human Rights (Muhuri),” Muhuri rapid response officer Francis Auma said.
Auma said the performing arts fraternity at the Coast and in Kenya generally will miss him.
Ojwang’s mother, Joyce Osoo, said Trust Guard nurtured his son well and gave him all the support he needed.
“He was always praising the company and if I had another boy I would have sent him to Dubai to work in that company,” Osoo said.
Born in Mombasa in 1975, Osoo started his education at Aga Khan Nursery School before joining Ganjoni Primary and later Khamis High School.
“He then began his acting career at Kizingo Arts where he stayed for a long before eventually traveling to Dubai,” Osoo said.
“Osoo has left a big gap in my life. He was always cheerful, joyful and welcoming. He would not get annoyed with anybody and if he did, it would only last for some minutes before he returned to his joyful self,” she said.
Together with his childhood friend, Muhuri’s Auma, Ojwang served as an altar boy at Holy Ghost Cathedral Mombasa, becoming the first Africans to serve as altar boys after the Goans and Europeans.
Ojwang had a diploma in communication from Rome, Italy specializing in radio, specifically the BBC model.
On Saturday morning, the body of Ojwang, which is being preserved at the Pandya Memorial Hospital morgue, will be discharged for a requiem mass at the Holy Ghost Cathedral Church in Mombasa at 7 am.
After the requiem mass, the body will be taken to the Little Theatre at Mbaraki for viewing and final respects from friends and colleagues.
From there the procession will move across the road to the Mbaraki cemetery where it will be interred.
