They distinguished themselves as scholars, writers, public servants and philanthropists. The Ogots met at Makerere University in 1950 and wedded nine years later at Maseno School in 1959.
They had joint bank accounts throughout the 56 years of marriage before Prof Bethwel Ogot lost his wife, Grace Ogot in 2015.
Prof Bethwel Allan Ogot EBS: He is among Kenya’s most eminent historians alongside Prof Godfrey Muriuki. The alumnus of Maseno School, Makerere, University of St Andrews, and University of London, is a scholar who specialises in African history.
Kenya’s best student in primary (1945) and secondary school exams (1947) went on to become the Chancellor of Moi University and Professor Emeritus at Maseno University and also oversaw the constitution of six universities, besides donating Sh50 million worth of land and buildings, and Sh24 million worth of books, towards the Odera Akang’o Campus of Moi University.
The recipient of Doctor of Letters (Honoris Causa) from Kenyatta and Kabianga universities and 1993 Unesco Gold Medal, is founder of Historical Association of Kenya and author of 30 books, among them History of the Southern Luo, Decolonisation and Independent Kenya, Kenya: The Making of a Nation and My Footprints in the Sands of Time, an autobiography of the now 87-year-old.
Grace Ogot: Politician, nurse, broadcast journalist, diplomat and PR practitioner, was known for her distinctive headwraps and mono-toned flowing dresses. She remains the only woman MP for Gem since independence.
But it was in the literary world, where the former Assistant Minister for Culture and Social Services wrote her immortality on the strength of short stories, including The Other Woman, The Island of Tears, Promised Land and Land Without Thunder (1968) a one-time high school set book and which for almost 20 years, made her East Africa’s most notable female writer from stories pegged on Luo culture, mythology, folklore and the role of women in a patriarchal society.
Land Without Thunder, her first story, was written while studying in Uganda’s Nursing Training Hospital in 1962, before proceeding to St Thomas Hospital in England - where she presented BBC’s London Calling East Africa.
The author who spearheaded the formation of the Writer’s Association of Kenya, was among 570 authors of the 20th century to feature in the four-volume Modern Women Writers in 1996. Grace Ogot closed her gate at the Nairobi Hospital after a long illness in April 2015. The 84-year-old was mother of four, including David Ogot, the National Coordinator of Alcohol Awareness in Kenya and founder of Going Home Dotcom Trust, which fights alcohol and substance abuse.
