Gospel Singer Phenny Oyugi to be honoured posthumously

Gospel musician Phenny Oyugi known for her popular song Lweny Mare met her death on Saturday, November 9, 2024 at Mama Lucy Kibaki Hospital, Nairobi where she had been admitted for two weeks. She died at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) aged 29. Her body is preserved at the hospital (Mama Lucy) morgue.

She was in the process of releasing Unastahili Kuabudiwa and other songs when she met her death. The title Unastahili Kuabudiwa gospel song was originally sung by Rebecca Mumina but one wonders how Phenny Oyugi could have navigated with song?

Phenny is the one who could have known better how she could have navigated through with that new song that shares a similar title in different songs sung by different (gospel) musicians.

Destiny Linus is another artiste who has replayed the (Rebecca) Mumina song using choir beats. 

Promoter John Okidi said the songs that the fallen artiste had composed and recorded to conclusions will have to be released in the market.

“We’ll make sure all her compositions that are recorded sees the light of the day as a way to honour her posthumously in the fight for top honours,” Okidi told The Standard.

Most of her recordings have over the years been done by different promoters but Okidi was the main one as an experienced promoter in the music industry. “We have worked together for many years and we’ll ensure whatever that she had composed gets completed at the end of the day,” said Okidi.

Her mother Eunice Akinyi said her daughter died at the peak of her career.

“She died at the peak of her career at a time her work motivated many youths and she was well respected in most churches around the city and within the country,” said the mother of five.

While in Nairobi, Phenny attended the Community Healing and Transformation Church (CHTC) where she horned her skills according to Stellah Mwende who attends the same church. “Her death is a blow to us as a youthful musician whose star had started to rise. Most of her work was consumed in the same church (CHTC),” said Mwende.

However, she said Phenny used to attend a number of churches in the city and all around the country with the aim of growing her career. And her death has dealt a big blow to the Kenyan youth who plunged into gospel music industry, which is becoming competitive to penetrate its market by the day.

“She died at a time we had lots of hope with her and the family had started to reap from her fruits. God knows why she had to take my daughter at this time,” said the weeping mother.

Phenny was the first born child in a family of three boys and two daughters. Her father died when she was only two years in 1997.

And as her composition of ‘Unastahili Kuabudiwa’ that was yet to reach the production process, her mother prayed that all those involved in it should work hard to ensure it’s completed.

” It’s my desire to have all her work that had not been completed is concluded with an aim to honour her post-humously,” she said 

In that song, she had only sung two stanzas of the song before leaving for a crusade in Migori with a promise to finish it later in her return from that gospel escapade. And Okidi promised to work tirelessly for all her unfinished work gets to the market.

“All her work that are in the You Tube will have to be worked on and done well until it gets to the market,” stated promoter Okidi.

Her body is preserved at the (Mama Lucy) hospital pending funeral arrangements at are going on in the city and in her rural home. In the city, friends and relatives are converging at Flota in Obama Estate, Nairobi to prepare for her send-off.