Mr. Achieng’s career has also seen him work under various British officers and diplomats in Kenya. For a Chef whose sumptuous products have been sampled and liked by among others, Princess Anne, Prince Charles and Queen Elizabeth, Mr. Achieng is first among many equals. His illustrious culinary career spanning over forty years inspires many with awe. Given time, he would go on and on about his profession, the indications of a man who loved and was dedicated to his job.
His life as a youth was lived in business. They traded in fish from Lake Tanganyika, a fresh water lake in Tanzania. They would then transport the fish to Mombasa to supply beach hotels and retailers. That was in the early part of the 1940s. In 1947, he went to Nairobi in search of employment. Recruitment by the colonial labor officers, who included one Alfonse Ndege, Daudi Osomo and a Mr. Dwasi. They saw him being taken to work as the Chef for Mr. Harry (H.H.) Frere, a British colonial labor officer, albeit of seniority to the three Africans.
He was to stay with Harry Frere until 1948, when Mr. Frere went to Zimbabwe to live with his uncle, the then British colonial Governor in Zimbabwe (then Northern Rhodesia). At Mr. Frere’s, Mr. Achieng’s workmate was one Mohamed Onyango ja Ugenya Ligega-Masiro who, he says is presently plying his trade in Italy as a Chef.
The 1948 departure of Mr. Frere, saw Mr. Achieng’ moving to Kenyan coastal city of Mombasa where for nine months, he worked at the Country Family and Hotel as the Chief Chef with among others, a Mr. Abdalla. Soon 1949 arrived and the agile young man in his early twenties shifted to a Mackinnon Road hotel in the city, working there between the months of August and November. Later on, he was to join a British Army Major called Tolbert as his Chef for one year. Come 1951, he felt that he had done enough and thus needed to start a family.
Thus on the 3rd September 1951, he got married to Miss Mariah Adero from Seme Kolunje in Kisumu District’s Kombewa Division. The pompous wedding took place at the Kibuye Catholic Church in Kisumu City, and was attended by the high and mighty. Eight months later, he was back in Mombasa, where he stayed for another five months.
In February 1952, in the pursuit of his career, the aspiring young man was employed by a British colonial police officer by the name of ‘Hill-Manger’ in Nyeri, central Kenya. He remembers the police officer as a strict disciplinarian who had two children. That was the same year that Queen Elizabeth, then a Princess, came to Kenya on a tour. Mr. Achieng was invited to the State House in Nairobi, where as the Chef he served the Queen for three consecutive days.
Later on, while the Queen stayed at a country hotel in Nyeri, the news of King George’s sudden demise was brought, forcing her to end her trip abruptly and go back home to England. This was the same period when Paramount Chief Yonah Orao, the grandfather to the embattled former Nakuru District Commissioner, Jonah Anguka, also passed on. The tumultuous period also saw a State of Emergency being declared in the country, and the arrest of the President of Kenya, Mzee Jomo Kenyatta, on October 30th.
Mr. Achieng' says that the period marked a tormenting moment in the lives of Africans. Many were killed by the colonial officers for collaborating with the Mau Mau freedom fighters. Several others were also killed by the Mau Mau for collaborating with the British colonial officers. Many of the uncooperative Africans were subjected to hard labor and confinement by some of the colonial officers. He vividly remembers one physician, a Dr. Ouko, then practicing in Nyeri, as a beacon of hope for many of the Africans. The kind doctor helped many of them by hiding them from harsh colonial officers and giving them food, as well as other provisions.
During the same year of 1952, Mr. Achieng' went home on short leave. The British Colonial Governor in Kenya, Sir Evelyn Baring was to come to Kisumu City on October 13th as the Chief Guest during the opening of the Aga Khan Hospital in the town. Mr. Achieng’ was once again called up to go and unleash his culinary skills, as the Chief Chef of the Ceremony. He successfully served the delighted Governor and other important guests at the event. The occasion had also doubled up as a short tour of the region for the Governor. His recollection still intact on British issues, Mr. Achieng’ says that earlier in the month of September, Prince Andrew had been born.
Following conscription by the colonial era labor officers, Mr. Achieng’ careered with another British colonial officer, Mr. J.R. Fenton between 1958 and 1960. In the course of 1960, he left Mr. Pantone’s employment for an onward engagement with a Kisumu City hotel, where he stayed on for four months. Upon leaving the hotel, the middle aged man immediately embarked on his initial business of wholesaling fish from Lake Tanganyika and ferrying to Mwanza, Kigoma and Tabora in Tanzania; and Kisumu and Mombasa cities in Kenya.
1963 heralded approaching independence for Kenya, and Mr. Achieng’s profession was further sharpened under a retired colonial British railway officer, Mr. George Bick. With a wife, Laura and seven children; Rita, Norma, Sheila, Noreen, Walter, Geoffrey and Jared, Mr. Bick lived in Kilindini, Mombasa opposite the Kenya Brewery plant. His daughter Rita, Mr. Achieng’ recalls, is now a Catholic nun in Lushoto, Tanzania.
In 1967, Mr. Achieng’s occupation was to take him to Moscow, in the then Soviet Union. This was when he was deployed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kenya government as Chef de Pâté of its embassy in Moscow. Up to 1969, the assiduous Chef worked under Ambassador David Kayanda, the then Kenyan Ambassador to the Soviet Union. September of the same year saw his contract expiring. He came back to the country and his meticulous services were immediately tapped by Sir Stanley John Arthur, a British national and trade officer who lived on Karura Road in Nairobi. His contract with the good Knight expired in 1970, when Sir Arthur was deployed to the Malta Islands as the Governor. Sir Arthur had three children, all girls with two twin sisters, Petronila and Patricia. Phyllis (ter) was his other daughter.
On June the 26th, 1971, Mr. Achieng’ was employed as the Chef to Sir Leonard Allison, Counselor at the British High Commission in Kenya. It is this nine-month long rapport with the Allisons that saw them sponsor the construction of the workshop into a school, Mr. Achieng’ had founded in his community. Lady Pamela Allison later came and officiated at the opening ceremony of the workshop at Bar Mathonye Primary School in Mr. Achieng’s village. He remembers the Allisons residence on 68 Muthaiga Road in Nairobi, as a beehive of hard work and open-heartedness.
At Sir Leonard’s place, Mr. Achieng’s worked along with a Mr. Augustine Nyamori Makodwar and a Mr. Stanley Lukhongo. Another diplomat at the British High Commission, a Mr. Munroe, was, according to Mr. Achieng’, a very hard working person who spent precious hours at their busy Hamilton House offices in Nairobi.
In 1971, while employed by the British High Commission Counselor, Sir Leonard, Mr. Achieng’ culinary thoroughness saw him being invited to cater for the visiting royalty duo of Princess Anna and Prince Charles. The two were staying at Sir Leonard’s residence. During their two week stay, Mr. Achieng’ had the opportunity to let loose his fine gastronomic skills on the British royals and especially on Prince Charles. As the two monarchs were leaving, a huge garden party was organized for them at a Chui Road, Karen house.
The who is who in Kenya were invited to the party to bid farewell to the Prince and the Princess. At the party, the dexterous Chef once again displayed his catering expertise when he baked a 50 kilogram cake for them. Princess Anna and Prince Charles visibly impressed with his adroitness, offered to take the cake to the mother Queen Elizabeth. As well, they pledged to Mr. Achieng’ that they would send back 550,000 British pounds to him and his workmates as a thank you. Mr. Achieng’ is yet to receive the money, 35 years later.
In mid-1972, Mr. Achieng’ was again sent by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kenya to be the Chef de Pâté for the Kenyan Embassy in Moscow. During this period, he worked under Ambassador John Ouko Ndisi (now deceased). He was to return to Kenya from Moscow in February 1973 and proceed briefly with further construction of the school he had founded in his constituency. After a short hiatus at home between 1974 and 1975, Mr. Achieng’ became the Chef to the former Assistant Minister for Tourism and Amagoro Constituency Member of Parliament, Hon. Albert A.A. Ekirapa. He was to work with Hon. Ekirapa at their Mbagathi Ridge, Karen Nairobi residence up to 1977. In 1978, he proceeded to Mombasa City where he was employed as the Chief Chef at the Tower Room Hotel in Port Reitz, located on the city’s mainland north.
With the arrival of 1980, and old age gradually approaching, the tireless Mr. Achieng’ took up gastronomic duty with a 75 year old British real estate magnate, Mr. Donald Vincent at his residence opposite Karen Club in Nairobi. An eye ailment was to see Donald taken to the Seychelles Islands by his only child and son, Tony. Tony lived in London and had three children.
Come 1982, Mr. Achieng’ was employed by Captain David Bolden, a British pilot, at his Windy Ridge, Karen home. During this period, he interacted with such prominent British personalities as Lord Blundell, Sir Dennis Pritt, Lord Havelock, and Lord Cavendish. Sir Dennis Pritt lived in a Windy Ridge house rented from the Kenyattas through Mr. Sammy M. Njuguna, a member of the family. Lord Blundell had also married a Lady Margaret, whose pilot husband had died in an accident a few years earlier. Mr. Achieng’ remembers Lady Margaret as a decent woman who had one daughter.
From 1984 to 1986, Mr. Achieng’ was engaged by a prominent Kenyan law firm, Schoffield Associates. Anna Schoffield, the senior partner at the firm and currently living in Jamaica, was linked to the connoisseur Chef through Mr. Francis Wasunna, a high-flying lawyer and senior advocate of the then law firm Wasunna and Ombija. Mr. Wasunna is now a senior partner in another Kenyan law firm, Wasunna and Wasunna Advocates. His former partner is now the High Court of Kenya Justice Hon. Nicholas Ombija. Mr. Wassunna remains a close friend and confidante of Mr. Achieng’.
In 1987, Mr. Achieng’ was taken up at McCann Ericsson. He worked there until 1991, when he began to experience recurrent eye problems. Always a hard working man, retiring home was not his best wish, yet he could do nothing.
In his lifetime and career, Mr. Achieng’ has met the who is who of the global society. While in Moscow, he remembers at one time accommodating the current Bondo Member of Parliament, Dr. Oburu Odinga, then a student in the former Soviet Union. During the same period, Hon. Oburu’s younger brother, who is now the Member of Parliament for Langata, Hon. Raila Odinga, used to pay them regular visits from his East German undergraduate base. Kenya’s founding Vice President, the late Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, the father of the two political supremos was also a personal friend of Mr. Achieng’.
Others included the late Mulu Mutisya, a Kamba Eastern Kenya political head. His friendship with Mr. Achieng’ witnessed him officiating at a fundraiser in the aid of Mr. Achieng’s pet school project in Bar Mathonye village, Kisumu Rural Constituency. Many senior government officials, professionals and university dons across the globe who were African students in the former Soviet Union, know Mr. Achieng’ as a humble, fatherly and caring man. Dr. Odhiambo Olel, then a medical student in Russia, nostalgically remembers the shirt Mr. Achieng’ bought for him in Moscow. The Kisumu City medic, who was also the personal doctor to the late Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, still reveres the old chef.
Mr. Achieng’s photo album is splashed with pictures of him in his halcyon days posing with diplomats, senior government officers and even students in Kenya and the former Soviet Union. Some show him in Helsinki, Finland among other countries. Students who got to know the astute Mr. Achieng’ and even posed for snapshots with him, included Martin Otaro, currently an animal scientist and senior lecturer in the Faculty of Agriculture of the Egerton University in Kenya, and Mr. Michael Otito, currently a senior agricultural officer in Western Kenya. Professor Jalan’go Akello, a senior Kenyan academician and a former student in the Soviet Union, is still a close friend of the now visually impaired old man, regularly paying him impromptu visits.
In his heyday Mr. Achieng’ was a dedicated philanthropist, hard worker and a disciplinarian - qualities he has maintained to date, and which have endeared him to countless individuals. Many not only in his district, but across Africa attained their education because of his open-heartedness; an attribute, which he says, was cemented greatly by his interaction with the British personalities. That it seems, has to a little extent, trickled back into his lifestyle even as he is immobilized by blindness, and without any source of income. He admits though that some of those he had previously assisted, as well as a few well wishers, have been good to him giving him drugs and subsistence whenever they pay him a visit. Some send him gifts even today.
Mr. Achieng’ has witnessed the demise of his three daughters and a son from his verandah seat. The eldest, Mrs. Francisca Awitti Olang’ passed on in 1991, just a few weeks on arrival from Osaka Japan, where she had gone to present at an International Conference for Agricultural Journalists. She was the editor of the Kenyan agricultural newsletter, ‘Kilimo News’ and a senior officer with the Ministry of Agriculture under the Agricultural Resource Centre; and was educated at Reading and Egerton Universities in England and Kenya respectively.
A son, David Odhiambo, breathed his last in 2002, while his other daughter passed on due to labor complications in 1993. The youngest, a daughter, Pamela Werner Lorenz, fondly named after Lady Pamela Allison, who was married to a German citizen and living with her in-laws and husband in Guxhagen Germany, passed on in early 2004. His eldest wife also departed this life in 1997 as a result of diabetes-induced complications.
Mr. Achieng’ now remains with only a son and a daughter from his eldest wife. The two have often tried their best in providing for the now frail and blind old man; but with families of their own, it has been more of an exercise in futility, as what they give out is never enough to sustain him and his young family from the second wife.
His first wife had in the early 1970s pressed him to take a second wife to ‘take care of him’ when both of them were getting old. They have young children, some of whom are still going through primary school. Another son from his second wife passed on in March 2006 after a protracted struggle with HIV/AIDS related illnesses. The overall result for Mr. Achieng’ has been emotional and financial besiegement, as all of this has required, and still needs, his monetary and moral attention.
“All my life I have lived like a British Goodwill Ambassador in Kenya”, he says. This has ensured that his community was among the first in the constituency to have a school close to them. The next task was constructing a church, and that too he has completed with a beautiful stone-made church in his community. The church building was officially inaugurated in 2005. His next wish it appears would be to see the construction of a hospital in his community. Many in the area have to travel over 20 kilometers to Chulaimbo Provincial Health Hospital in another part of the constituency to seek medical care. Considering the endemic poverty in the region, this becomes an uphill task, as one is required to regularly fork out cash for bus fare.
Mr. Achieng’ asks where the money Princess Charles and Princess Anna remitted to them, after pledging to do so during their 1971 visit to Kenya, went as he is yet to see any part of it. “I am sure they sent the money”, he confidently asserts. The money in question must have apparently disappeared a long the way, probably after getting into the hands of a ‘roving-eyed’ Kenyan. With his young children looking up to him for school fees, and as the sole family breadwinner, the money would definitely go a long way in educating and providing for them. in addition, it would help unshackle Mr. Achieng’ from his current mire of financial quandary.
With no one to support him, neglected and blindness stoking him, Mr. Achieng’ is an example of how the Kenyan and the African society at that, forget their heroes. If his dilapidated living conditions are anything to go by, then the ‘Old Age’ Bill much crusaded for by among others, Help-Age Kenya organization to cater for the plight of the aged in Kenya, should be formulated and passed in Parliament. This would ensure that policy frameworks are in place such that the welfare of the old people, especially the disabled ones like Mr. Achieng’ is taken care of.
As Mr. Achieng’s biography is being written, his life is a manifestation of honor. An honor, which given by the British, would stamp his work in promoting British policies not only in his rural community, but also in the entire Kenyan nation. His work with the British government officers and royalty is indeed a manifestation of the goodwill of a man who is living for his society and not for his own. A man who stopped short of exporting and stationing his expertise in the Buckingham Palace. A man who exemplifies the saying, “ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country”. The real life story of a gentleman, who even as he starts his octogenarian years, still cares about and positively so, contributes to his rural and global society.
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