Journalists mourn veteran colleague Juma Aluoch

It is a sad day for the journalism fraternity in Nyanza following the death of veteran journalist Maurice Juma Aluoch.

Mr Aluoch who is the Director of Communication in the Homa Bay County Government died on Monday at the Homa Bay County Referral Hospital where he was receiving medication.

The veteran journalist died after a short illness.

Mr Aluoch was admitted to the hospital on Sunday morning and died on Monday at about 6pm.

His death was confirmed the Homa Bay County Executive Committee Member for Health Prof Richard Muga.

Mr Muga said the journalist died of complications in his lungs after he was place under the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).

"Aluoch had complications in the lungs, making our health workers to put him under 100 per cent oxygen in the ICU. We took good care of him but it is unfortunate that he has passed on,"   Muga said.

Muga described Juma as a dedicated officer who performed his duties well.

"We have lost an officer who was committed to service delivery. We condole with his family,” said Muga.

Mr Aluoch is one of the pioneer news correspondents in the Nyanza region from the early 1990s.

He worked for major newspapers including the Kenya Times that was owned by KANU party, The Nation and Taifa Leo newspapers owned by Nation Media Group and Ramogi FM, a radio station broadcasting in Dholuo and owned by Royal Media Services.

A battery of journalists including those who worked with Aluoch in gathering news eulogised him.

Senior journalist John Oywa who is also the acting Chief of Staff in Kisumu County Government and Independent journalist Samuel Owida described Aluoch as a colleague who never held grudges.

"Juma liked controversy and he could disagree with you in one minute and reconcile with you after two minutes. He never held grudges with people," Oywa said.

Mr Oywa remembered Juma as a colleague with whom he traversed the greater South Nyanza in 1990s.

During that time, South Nyanza region which is the current Homa Bay and Migori counties had poor road network.

"During that time, Aluoch worked for Kenya Times while I was working for Nation Newspaper.  It was very tiresome to gather news due to poor roads and unreliable means of transport. We used to spend nights away from home whenever we went to gather news outside Homa Bay town which served as the regional headquarters," said Oywa.

He described Aluoch as a journalist who had a sharp nose for news.

Owida remembered Aluoch as an aggressive news reporter who built rapport with news many sources in Homa Bay and Migori counties.

"I met Aluoch in the early 2000 when he was a reporter for the Kenya Times before I joined the media through the People Daily in 2006. We later worked together for Ramogi FM in 2007," Owida said.

He described Aluoch as one who respected but never feared news sources.

"He could dig deeper and unearth underlying issues when gathering news," Owida added.

What many people never knew about Aluoch is that he was a banker with the Standard Chartered Bank before he joined media.