Mathare United FC founder Bob Munro is dead
He passed away at his home in Westlands on Sunday.
10d agoBRIAN ORUTARealtime
The late Wilson Nolly Raye / BRIAN OTIENOThe creative arts and civil society fraternities in Mombasa are mourning the mysterious death of one of their own, which occurred on Monday morning.
Wilson Nolly Raye, who was the originator of the famous phrase that became a meme in Kenya, “Habari Zenu? Habari Zenu Tena?” died in hospital in Mtongwe at around 5am.
According to his elder sister Susan Melody, Nolly, a playwright and director, came to her house on Friday evening looking out of sorts.
“He walked past me as I was washing clothes. I had to follow him to ask what was wrong. He said he is okay. But he refused to eat any solid food. He only drank cold water and milk,” Melody said at the Coast General Teaching and Referral Hospital.
The sister said Nolly refused to eat throughout the weekend, only asking for cold water and milk.
But whenever he drank any liquid, he vomited.
“On Saturday, he could not even walk to help himself. I had to bring a basin where he did his business there,” Melody said.
She said Nolly left her house on Sunday evening at around 6pm to go to his house, where he was with John Paul, his nephew.
“No one can fill his shoes. It is a big hole that he has left,” she said.
She revealed that Nolly had left instructions that whenever he died, he should be buried according to Islamic rites, but his body should be transported to his rural home in Asembo, Siaya County.
“He wanted his body buried in Asembo, but without a coffin. He did not want his body to be put in a coffin,” she revealed.
Nolly had travelled to his home county in Siaya on December 28 last year and came back to Mombasa on January 8 accompanied by Paul, whom he paid for his secondary school fees.
Paul, who was with Nolly during his last moments, said Nolly complained of stomach aches and was vomiting in the wee hours of Monday morning and had to make frantic calls to relatives to have him taken to hospital.
“We went to three different hospitals before we were referred to Coast General Teaching and Referral Hospital, Mtongwe where he was pronounced dead on arrival,” he said.
Nolly, the honorary secretary of the Little Theatre Club, Mombasa, will be remembered for his immense contribution to the creative industry, where he gave the platform to budding thespians.
Collins Mangicho, the Little Theatre Club, Mombasa vice chair, described Nolly as a vibrant and creative person who was social.
“I knew him through the creative industry, and we have a company together called Sauti Ya Mwambao Media, where we are co-directors. His sudden death has shocked,” Mangicho said.
The LTC vice chair said he last saw him last Thursday when they were in a meeting about the LTC programs.
“We have lost a key pillar of the industry in Mombasa,” he said.
Zedekiah Adika, the Coast Civil Society Network chair, said as a CSO fraternity they are preparing to accord Nolly a decent send-off.
“Nolly was very much depended on by the CSOs because of his background and the experience he had in the sector. He stood for elaborate principles of civil society,” Adika said.
He played a critical role in bringing people together, especially at LTC, according to Adika.
“We will stand with his family, given that his wife is one of us, to the last moment,” the CSO Network chair said.
Muhuri gender officer Topista Juma said Nolly was instrumental in advocating for the rights of children.
He was the chair of the Mombasa County Network for Children and was organizing a meeting on January 30 or 31 to set the agenda for 2025 for child protection and advocacy.
“Nolly used to love children work and would ensure no child suffers injustice without recourse. He used to push us to ensure no child in Mombasa and the Coast suffers where we can help. Children in Mombasa and the Coast have lost a father,” she said.
Muhuri rapid response officer Francis Auma said Nolly was his childhood friend with whom they grew together and even started a band called Afrongoma Band at the LTC.
“Since the 80s, we have been with Nolly doing creative arts and human rights work. While he was at St Lukes Gorofani Arts, I was at Kizingo Arts. He was a fine actor,” he said.
Auma said Nolly was instrumental in the revival of the LTC, which had died because of a lack of funds and infighting.
He described Nolly as a brave crusader who stood for what is right and used his funny side to drive human rights points home.
“When LTC was in trouble, he was the one who stood firm and would not let it die. He brought the creatives back together,” he said.
Nolly has left behind a wife and two daughters.
Plans are in place to transport his body to Asembo in accordance with his wishes.