Elvis Ondieki: THE MAKING OF A FICTIONAL LEGEND. by Dikembe Disembe

He is the immediate former chairman of Moi University press club, the 3^rd eye.

I knew Elvis Ondieki (pictured) for an academic year; my observation of him therefore confined me to this period. If I were called to give an account of his character before a panel of peers; I would say the following:

His mind was great and powerful, without being of the very first order; his sharpness strong. In his class, he passed as perennial joker. Among his friends; he seemed to be the shortest, a fact he constantly used to justify his resolve to form Moi University Vertically Challenged Male Students Association. He was slow to make judgments, being highly aided by personal conviction; he did his work more judiciously and was rarely late for club meetings. Knowing well the orientation of most 3^rd Eye writers, he gained from keeping to himself, hence would rarely give an opinion.

But if called to do so, he was incapable of fear, had a knack of meeting personal attacks with the calmest unconcern. Perhaps, the strongest feature in his character was cautiousness, never acting until every circumstance, every consideration had been maturely weighed; refraining if he saw doubt, but, once decided, he went through with his purpose, no matter what it takes.

His integrity was beyond reproach, his belief was informed by the role he felt journalism should play in shaping morals and best practices (his classmates do not remember an instant he cheated in an exam). His justice the most inflexible I have ever known; no motives of personal interest or friendship or hatred being able to bias his decision.

He was indeed a wise, good and a great man. His heart was warm in its affections, he attached value to every club member, and he created solid esteem in each individual’s ability and proportioned duty in so far as he was convinced one was capable. The result of this was that each member strived to build the club in their personal small ways. In the circle of writers he took free share at conversation, when he spoke, he toned his language to fit the occasion hence we always knew if he wanted to spurn or joke.

His abilities in informal discussions always left us in stitches, his language was never plain, and his gags smelt of absurd mediocrity! Yet the chairman was far from being a mediocre!

He disliked the Green Book, and often declared to me that he considered it an experiment gone bad. He always wondered how leadership could exist without adequate compensation. In essence, he believed lack of a well stipulated system of appreciation to MUSO leaders was not only reckless and cold, but also depicted an institution lacking in manners and ideas, an institution which apparently strived to mint corrupt and insensitive leaders who could not stand the test of integrity required in this generation. For this reason, he harbored a strong dislike to the dean and his office!

He was a strong believer in the French principles of government-liberty, fairness and fraternity. He was generally distrustful of women; a streak deeply rooted in the collective psyche of most male campus writers. He rarely visited female hostels. I suspect he never ventured in a campus relationship; if he did so, then I can bet it became dysfunctional long before I came here! This is my intellectual recollection of a maverick who managed to pacify a press club; for The 3^rd Eye is essentially a constellation of critics and conformists; leaders and wanderers; Christians, Muslims and traditionalists; atheists and agnostics; friends and strangers; classmates and roommates; pirates and exilees!

I am satisfied the great body of writers, from Mulsa Shots to Flashpoint, from the Informer to Illuminator, from Intelligence to The Communicator to Legacy; all think of him as I do. We feel extremely grateful to have shared these walls with him. An emblem, a living legend.

The write is the Chief Reporter of Moi University Press club-The 3rd Eye.