Veteran sports journalist Omulo Okoth calls it a day

 Omulo Okoth watched Environment CS Prof Judi Wakhungu win gold at the 1984 All Africa Games, interviewed Pele and spent two days at the dreaded Nyayo House in line of duty

It all started in 1984 when a 20-year-old church accountant jumped over Kisumu’s Moi Stadium fence to watch what was billed as the football match of the year — KTM of Thika battling it out with Kisumu Hotstars for the national title.

“It was a captivating match. I had a deep desire to share what I saw with other people. Before the match ended, I had already decided I was going to write about it. That article became my first story to be published in a national newspaper, The East African Standard,” says Omulo Okoth, The Standard’s Senior Associate Sports Editor who retired last month.

That first article — published 33 years ago — opened the doors for Omulo, taking him from St Stephen’s Cathedral in Kisumu, where he was balancing books, to a career that would see him travel all over the world, covering four Olympic games, World Cup matches and numerous international sporting events.

“I was formally given an employment letter by The Standard in June I987. My salary was Sh3,125 and my rent was Sh145. I never looked back after that,” Omulo said during an interview for this story at his Nyayo Embakasi home.

“I can’t say I have achieved all I wanted. But I am very thankful to God because I started as a correspondent, and finished my career as a sports editor. There is so much pressure in the newsroom, pressure to beat deadlines, pressure to beat competition and pressure to hold on to your job. That is now all over and any writing I do now will be at my pace and in my style,” says the father of five and this year’s Media Council of Kenya Sports Journalist of The Year award winner.

Omulo says the assignment to cover the 1987 All Africa Games held in Nairobi was one of the toughest.

“We worked non-stop for 12 days, only sleeping for three hours daily. And then to cap it all, after the games ended, I unearthed a big rot in the tenders issued to cater for the games,” he reveals.

He published the stories which prompted the former powerful internal security PS Hezekiah Oyugi to order his arrest, leading to a two-day intense interrogation at Nyayo House.

“Those days, the State was very powerful, people were disappearing and others were being detained without trial. When I was taken to Nyayo House for interrogation, I knew my life was over. Fortunately, I was released following pressure from my bosses Ali Hasidh and Mitch Odero.

“It was also during the 1987 All Africa Games that current Environment Cabinet Secretary Judi Wakhungu and her sister Susan Wakhungu won gold in the tennis doubles. I also covered Barclays Bank CEO Jeremy Awori from 1985 to 1987 when he was swimming for team Kenya,” recounts Omulo.

But Omulo’s career has not been all about games. In the early years of his career, he covered politics and offers hilarious tales about the happenings at the Kanu disciplinary hearings led by the late Okiki Amayo, whose tribunal could make or break any politician.

“It had the likes of Mulu Mitisya and Nyiva Mwenda in its panel, who could determine if a politician isn’t Nyayo enough. Not being Nyayo enough meant you could be expelled or suspended from Kanu, the only party in the country. This effectively meant you could no longer be an MP. In the field with me those days was Tom Mshindi, Manoah Esipisu, Roy Gachuhi, Julius Maina and Chege Kariuki,” he reveals.

Omulo recalls the 1997 World Athletics Championships held in Athens, Greece as the biggest culture shock, not only to him, but the entire Kenyan delegation.

“There were sex shops everywhere and women wore tops that only covered half their breasts. Nearly everyone had mobile phones, which was a reserve of the very rich in Kenya. Today, I look at touts harassing women who wear short skirts and wish I could take them to Athens. Kenyan women dress like angels compared to the ones in Europe,” says the devout Anglican.

As a man with a ringside seat in Kenya’s sports arena, he became friends with many sports stars and says the lowest moments in his career was the tragic death of athlete Samuel Wanjiru and Samson Kitur.

Having spent the past decade of his career at the helm of sports news as an editor, Omulo also made friends with top sports personalities all over the world.

“There was a time I was travelling from Ethiopia. Haile Gebresellasie who was in the same plane saw me seated in the economy section. With a wave of his hand, he upgraded me to first class, next to him, until we reached Europe!” recalls Omulo.

Apart from all local sportsmen and women, with whom he has close association, Omulo also lists Serena Williams, Tendulkar Sachin and Michael Johnson as some of the sports personalities he has enjoyed interviewing.

“Pele came across as very arrogant, but maybe he wasn’t just in a good mood when I met him,” he says.

His career as a sports reporter has taken him to nearly all African countries, nearly the whole of Europe, the United States and Asia.

Other sports journalists had this to say about Omulo’s long career.

Roy Gachuhi, celebrated former Daily Nation sports writer: “Omulo is very knowledgeable, especially in matters athletics. I am certain he will make a great consultant as active retirees are often called.”

Robin Toskin, Associate Sports Editor at The Standard Media: “I used to read his stories years before I joined the media. He may have retired, but he is still young as journalism knows no age.

James Waindi, Sports Editor, People Daily: “I gave him the name Capello because, like the former England manager, Capello, Omulo was strict about work.”

Mutwiri Mutuota, Group Sports Editor, Royal Media: “Omulo, Baba or Capello as we knew him in the confines of the newsroom, was a colossus in his trade, a beacon of professionalism.

Allan Buluku, Sports Editor, Daily Nation: “Lumush is a journalist par excellence; a walking encyclopedia in matters athletics. I am now an editor because Lumush inspired me.

Jacob Otieno, Photo Editor, The Standard Group: “I met Omulo in 1988. We were both young journalists at The East African Standard. With him, you were either right or wrong. “