President Uhuru Kenyatta as well as Kenyans have lost one of his closest friends and school mates.
Bruce Odhiambo, who died on Monday night at the Nairobi Hospital of heart complications, was Uhuru’s schoolmate.
Odhiambo died in the intensive care unit, where he had been admitted after developing heart-related complications. He had a history of cardiac ailments. Last year, he travelled to India to have his pacemaker replaced but developed complications when he came back .Before he passed on he last shared messages on his Instagram page on November 29, 2018.
Two of his Instagram posts, however, stood out, with very strong messages being put across.
A November 2 post read: “Good morning. Life isn’t meant to be easy, it’s meant to be lived. Sometimes happy, other times rough… But with every up and down, you learn lessons that make you strong.”
Another post, shared on November 9, said: “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another. It should always be like that.”
The father of two first made a name for himself through music. In the 1980s, he was a member of the Mombasa-based Safari Sound Band and the Spartans and later became a prolific producer who nurtured music talent through his Johari Cleff Studios.
Born in Siaya County and brought up in Nairobi’s Jericho Estate, Odhiambo started rubbing shoulders with the sons of the high and mighty at St Mary’s School.
It was also at the school that he developed his love for music and learnt how to play musical instruments such as the violin.
His funeral arrangements are underway.