By GPC News Desk
Journalist Oscar Obonyo has paid tribute to veteran media colleagues Moses Radoli and Noel Wandera, whose deaths within days of each other have left him mourning two longtime friends and newsroom comrades.
In an emotional tribute, Obonyo said his friendship with Radoli and Wandera stretched back many years, recalling how the three would often meet at his home in Busia Town to chat, laugh and reminisce about their years working in newsrooms.
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“I now realise, with a pain I cannot quite describe, that perhaps they were holding secret meetings about how to leave me behind,” Obonyo said.
He said the deaths, occurring barely a week apart, had made the loss particularly difficult, with the two journalists expected to be laid to rest on the same day.
“For nearly two decades, Moses, Noel and I straddled Kenya’s media landscape—Moses and Noel as business journalists, and I as a political journalist,” he said.
Obonyo said their shared roots in Busia and years working in Nairobi newsrooms had strengthened their friendship.
He remembered Radoli as a gifted storyteller and a journalist known for his distinctive writing style, while Wandera was described as more direct and quick to pursue business scoops.
“Moses was our storyteller—the master of the delayed intro, who could keep a story simmering before finally serving it. Noel was the impatient one. When a business scoop came his way, he went straight for the jugular,” Obonyo said.
He described both men as witty and thorough journalists who took their profession seriously, while also knowing how to enjoy life away from the newsroom.
Obonyo said the three journalists shared a special bond that they referred to as “Unyamanekhane”, a personal code they used to describe their comradeship.
He now faces the difficult task of mourning the two friends at separate burial sites in Kisoko and Nyakhobi, which he said are about 31 kilometres apart.
“How do I say goodbye to Unyamanekhane Moses and Unyamanekhane Noel under such distraught and confusing circumstances?” he asked.
Obonyo said the loss had also changed the meaning of places that had been familiar to their friendship, including Nyakhobi, Kisoko and Gulumwoyo.
In his tribute, he described the deaths as a painful reminder of the passage of time while maintaining the humour that had characterised their friendship.
“Your buddy is still here—laughing through the tears, and wondering why you hatched this heinous plot against him,” he said.
