Mbotela: Wipe away your crocodile tears

Radio Personality Leonard Mambo Mbotela during the interview with The Standard at his home in Langata,Nairobi.[Elvis Ogina.Standard]

Veteran broadcaster Leonard Mambo Mbotela is pained by the neglect Kenyan legend Joe Kadenge was subjected to before his death on Sunday.

Mbotela lashed out saying it is all hypocritical as most of those condoling with the family did little, if any, to help the football legend when he needed it most.

“Apart from President Uhuru Kenyatta, who visited him at his home and offered to support him, none of those falling over themselves to send condolences did anything for him," remarked Mbotela.

“It is all pure show off and I term it hypocritical. The government takes the biggest flack for ignoring him and letting him down, yet he did so much for this country."

”It pains me that he died in the condition he did and those who knew Kadenge also share my pain and disappointment. We should not be praising him now that he is dead yet we did nothing to make his life better.”

Giving a recollection on his interactions with Kadenge, the veteran broadcaster said:”I met him for the first time in Nakuru more than 40 years ago when he was working for the Ministry of Works."

“Even then, he loved football and was engaged in it fully while also finding time to scout for talent. He used to identify players who had an interest in football, train them and take them to other clubs."

Mbotela said he kept in touch with Kadenge when he joined Voice of Kenya (VOK), now Kenya Broadcasting Corporation, in 1964.

“My earliest recollection of his talent was in 1966 when Kadenge was playing for Kenya in the Gossage Cup. I was broadcasting the match and that is when the phrase ‘Kadenge na Mpira gained popularity,” remembered Mbotela.

“Despite his fame, he was a down-to-earth person and he never let it get into his head. He will be greatly missed.”

Elsewhere, friends and relatives condoled with Kadenge's family in Soliani Village.

His first wife, Mable Kamonya Kadenge aged 82, described Kadenge as a loving husband who cared for his family, saying he was strict and a disciplinarian.

The widow said she received the news while in church.

“I went to church and told the pastor that my husband had been admitted at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) in Nairobi and wanted the pastor to pray for his quick recovery. The service had just started when my daughter-in-law told me he had died around 11am,” said Mrs Kadenge.