This archive report was first published on 15 August 2019.
Ken Opande, the former Kisumu Kanu Chairman, has passed away at the age of 56 after a long illness. He died at Kisumu's Danid Hospital, according to his brothers Fred and Frank Opande.
Opande had been bedridden for the last five years after suffering a stroke. His condition worsened to the point where he could no longer stand or walk, as reported by journalists who visited him at his home in Muhoroni last year.
During his heyday as Kisumu Kanu Chairman, Opande was a well-connected politician who served as former President Daniel Moi's pointman in Nyanza. He was part of the 'Young Turks' who fronted the party's ideology in the then opposition stronghold of Nyanza, alongside the late Ogonda Osir.
Opande and other Kanu officials made numerous trips to State House Nakuru, where they were hosted by Moi. In 2002, he and Osir hosted President Uhuru Kenyatta in Kisumu, just weeks before Kenyatta was declared Moi's successor.
Opande reflected on his past in an interview with The Standard last year, recalling how he and Osir campaigned for President Kenyatta in Nyanza in 2002 on Moi's instruction. 'In 2002, Raila Odinga rallied Nyanza behind Mwai Kibaki who was the opposition presidential candidate, but Moi told us to soldier on with Uhuru Kenyatta's campaign. We lost. In 2013, I was happy to hear Uhuru take oath as the President of Kenya,' Opande said.
Yesterday, Kisumu Kanu officials Jack Nyambega (Chairman) and Milton Obote (Secretary) mourned Opande, appealing to the party leadership to help give him a decent burial. Opande's family fell apart when his wife died, leaving him to care for their children. He had accumulated a Sh3.6 million hospital bill.
