On a cold Monday morning of March 28, 1989, a group of 35 high school leavers arrived at the prestigious Kenya Institute of Mass Communication (KIMC) to take up a two-year diploma course in Journalism.
Carefully selected from various parts of Kenya, and armed with a rare determination for professional excellence in the field of journalism, this unique group took an extremely short time to bond and blend into a professional family, courtesy of a few exceptional individuals from among them.
The key architect of this rare professional cohesion was one Ms. Lucy Njeri Wangai (later Mrs. Lucy Njoroge), a lady full of charm who passed away on February 23 while undergoing treatment at a Nairobi Hospital.
Endowed with a natural sense of humor, the late Lucy would electrify an otherwise dull class with interjections, remarks and irresistible jokes that would tickle to laughter the meanest of individuals.
Regardless of whether anybody carried a foul mood into class, Ms. Wangai would take the shortest possible time to brighten even the gloomiest of mornings.
“Sorry, boss,” she would gently tap onto the shoulders of an apparently bored colleague: “We are not part of what happened to you yesterday,” and the tone would be as funny as it was emphatic.
The late Lucy’s humourist trait was later carried even to the various stations where she worked, earning her friends and admirers.
Those with whom she worked closely describe the deceased as a forthright officer who called a spade a spade but in a way that would be as flattering as it would be factual.
Her death robbed the Department of Information of her broad smile and never-ending humor. Her loss reverberated throughout the entire Ministry of ICT and the Kenyan media fraternity.
An outpouring of emotional tributes to Ms. Wangai paint the picture of a friendly, likeable person who got along with virtually everybody.
Ms. Esther Ngatia, an information officer who worked under the late Ms. Wangai at the Nyeri Information office during her internship in the early 1990s and later as a new officer in the Department at Thika Information office, describes Ms. Wangai as an excellent writer and mentor who perfectly guided and inducted her into journalism.
Media practitioners in Thika where Lucy worked also described the deceased as a selfless and thorough mentor. Mr. Gitau Wanyoike, the KTN correspondent in the area says that Lucy took him to the KNA office, trained and moulded him and when he was ready for the world, she was kind enough to let him look for greener pastures.
Similar sentiments came from Mathew Ndungu, the People Daily’s correspondent, who says: “Lucy trained me to be who I am today after undergoing attachment under her”.
“I met Lucy in 1999 during a UNICEF sponsored workshop at Kilaguni Lodge in Mtito Andei and she struck me as an amiable lady and a rare breed of a journalist,” says Mutiso Mbithi who was then working at the Malindi office of the Kenya News Agency.
An accomplished writer, Lucy has been described by her editors at the KNA National desk as aggressive, focused and efficient journalist. She was quick with the news to the subscribers of KNA copy.
“During the single party rule in the 1990s, the deceased never confined herself only to Government-friendly stories but went out of her way to flag out social evils like carjackings, kidnappings and economic crimes in the industrial town of Thika and other crime hot spots in the larger Kiambu County.
An Officer who sought anonymity described the deceased as a humane and went out of her way to assist many secondary school student from poor backgrounds to their education.
Lucy’s ability to mentor and shape upcoming journalists has been confirmed by Kiambu County Information Officer Lydia Shiroya who said the departed officer mentored and trained many journalists who served under her.
Ms. Shiroya remembers Lucy for being a stickler to the journalistic formular of 5Wand H which she would impart on budding journalists who landed in her stable. She was as firm as she was mentor. She did not tolerate half-baked stories submitted to her under the guise of meeting tight deadlines. Those working with her knew that while deadlines had to be met, they would be no space for malingerers in her office. Work had to be done no matter the challenges experienced along the way.
“Ms. Wangai fiercely protected the integrity and image of the Information Department and carried the KNA flag above all other media houses,” Shiroya says of her departed colleague.
Fellow Information and Communication Officers like Moses Nyandika, who is attached to the State Department for Energy, remember the late Ms. Wangai at her philanthropic best. A young boy from Kajiado had excelled his KCPE but had opted to herd cattle in Kajiado County to raise school fees.
“Lucy approached a Textile manufacturer in Thika which offered the orphan full scholarship to join the school of his choice; Tenwek High School, and as we speak now, the young man is doing commendably well in form two at this national school in Kericho county,”says Nyandika who partnered with the deceased to raise more funds from the Public Relations Society of Kenya (PRSK) to take the boy up to form four.
Lucy’s former classmates Joyce Hiribae and Michael Arunga also expressed shock at the sudden death coming within a year of the demise of two of their other former classmates Ms. Rose Mwatee, and Fredrick Muruja.
Editors at the KNA National Editorial desk described Lucy as an avid writer who had a rare nose for news. She had put Thika, her station on the global map through her articles that were carried in both print and broadcast media. “It is because of her writing skills that her byline hardly missed in MyGov the weekly pullout which is published by the Government Advertising Agency (GAA).
With her burial at the family home in Matunguru Village, Karatu, Gatundu South Friday , March 1 the flame of KNA in Thika went off. Fare thee well Lucy Njeri Wangai Njoroge.
By Mutiso Mbithi and Michael Okidi
