By William Oloo Janak,
The curtain
has finally fallen on one of Kenya’s most experienced journalists and editors,
Joab Michael Odero, simply known to friends and colleagues as Mitch Odero.
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| The late Mitch Odero |
Mitch passed
on at the Coptic Hospital in Nairobi on July 3, 2016 after suffering cardiac
arrest. He had been ailing from diabetes and high blood pressure since 2014,
according to family members.
Mitch was
buried at his rural home in Wagai, Gem, in Siaya County of Nyanza Region on
July 23, 2016. As I and some of his former media colleagues saw the casket
bearing his remains go down the grave at his home, we had no doubt we had lost
a man with a great wealth of knowledge and experience.
He had an
illustrious career as a journalist, starting off as a reporter at the Daily
Nation in 1971. He had just completed his studies at the then Publicity Media
Institute – Nyegezi (now St Augustine University) in Mwanza, Tanzania. He also later benefited from the prestigious
John Knight Fellowship at Stanford University in California, USA, in 1976.
Mitch rose
through the ranks, working for most of the mainstream print media outlets, to
become the Editor-In- Chief of the East African Standard (now The Standard)
newspaper in 1994.
He served in
various capacities within the media industry, including as the Founder Chairman
of the non-statutory Media Council of Kenya, and also as the Chairman of the
Council’s Ethics and Complaints Committee.
Mitch inspired,
mentored and trained many journalist, both locally and in the region. The media
fraternity in South Sudan mourned with us. He was their trainer and mentor
who helped to shape the emerging media in that country after it gained independence
in 2011.
I had a
chance to work with Mitch, from 1998 as a correspondent with the Standard. It
was an enriching experience. He would train and guide us during workshops and share
with us practical examples and experiences from the news room, delivering them
through his deep, measured voice.
One of the most
memorable anecdotes he would tell us was of a former sports reporter (now
deceased), an ardent supporter of AFC Leopards, who often had difficulty
writing his story when Leopards lost to their arch rivals, Gor Mahia (K’ogalo).
The reporter would
struggle with the story, as Mitch impatiently waited and as the deadline approached.
When the reporter
finally submitted the story after much prodding by Mitch, the intro would read
something like: “Strong winds blew towards AFC Leopards side, giving their arch
rivals, Gor Mahia, an easy goal…….”
This, and
many other examples, would leave all of us at the workshops laughing, but with
great lessons on the ethical dilemmas and loyalties we all face at one time or
another in the course of our work.
During the formative
years of the Media Council of Kenya, I worked very closely with Mitch, from 1994
– 2007. He was a moderating voice at difficult times, often stepping in to cool
tempers, or taking initiatives in handling tasks at the Council at a time
members were not being paid any allowances.
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| Mitch Odero, during the World Press Freedom Day 2007 |
As the
Council’s Chair of the Ethics and Complaints Committee, Mitch promoted
mediation and conciliation as the best ways to solve issues within the industry
and between the public and the media.
He led the
Council and the Committee in handling a number of delicate cases, many of them
away from public view, including complaints by the then First lady Lucy Kibaki,
who felt the media had been unfair to the first family. Tempers cooled and the
media agreed on a framework of handling, particularly, the First Lady, and the
First Family in general.
During the Grand Coalition Government, there was that difficult moment in 2011 when the former Prime Minister Raila Odinga and the then Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka tussled over the position of the Leader of Government Business. Kibera and Kisumu, Raila's restive support bases seethed with anger, and waited for the ruling of the then Speaker of the National Assembly, Keneth Marende.
When the Media Council and the industry were contacted o how to handle the reporting of the expected ruling to avoid inflaming passions, Mitch stepped in, deftly, and advised how the restive youth in Kibera could be calmed through Radio Pamoja FM, located in the slum, by directly engaging the influential elders and making them the temporary broadcasters with a uniform message.
Mitch actively
participated in organizing many local and international media events hosted by
the Council, helping to project the country’s media industry well to both local
and international participants, and in sharing experiences on media freedom and
practice.
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| Media colleagues at the burial: (L-R) Oloo Janak, AlbertoLeny, George Opiyo, Omulo Okoth and Mike Njeru |
One could go on and on about those defining moments of Mitch's journalistic career and leadership.....
Now that we bid farewell to Mitch, we are acutely aware of the loss of the great energy, depth
of knowledge and experience that he has gone down with him to the grave,
forever.
This makes me
renew my call to Mitch’s media contemporaries and those of us who came after
him, to urgently begin to document our experiences for the benefit of the
practicing journalists, those still in colleges and universities and for
posterity.
Fare thee
well, Mitch!
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