Jalang’o was denied chance to bid goodbye to his mentor late Charles Bukeko aka Papa Shirandula who gave is responsible for his success and fame.
Papa christened the aspiring politician ‘Jalang’o’ when he gave him a chance to act in his eponymous show which used to air on Citizen TV.
Papa died at Karen Hospital in Nairobi on July 18th 2020 after developing breathing complications.
Jalang’o never got a chance to bid his old friend goodbye as he was chased from the burial in Busia.
The Langata MP hopeful painfully recalled the incident while speaking during the Launch of Pride Ya Kenya.
“Big shout-out to Papa Shirandula who gave me the name ‘Jalang’o’. It was just a script and we were asked to pick a name and I chose Jalang’o, and Otoyo picked that. I thank him although I never got a chance to celebrate or even say bye to him,” said Jalang’o.
He continued…
“You people remember how Covid-19 had struck our country. He passed on on a Saturday and we went and rushed to Karen hospital but we’re not even allowed to even see his body.
“As we were planning to go the morgue to see him, we were told that they had already left for burial in Busia. I was left wondering how well we would honour him. We rushed with my friends and got a flight to Kisumu. It was 8am and Papa was already being buried.
“We got to Busia and he was already been buried and it was over. Everybody from Nairobi was being chased and told they had come there with Covid.”
Papa was among Kenyans who were buried by the infamous ‘men in white’ at the height of Covid-19.
His casket was regularly sprayed and the number of mourners limited, he was hastily buried by men covering their entire body with protective gear.
