{"id":1977,"date":"2021-06-12T08:12:03","date_gmt":"2021-06-12T08:12:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/countysplash.co.ke\/?p=1977"},"modified":"2021-06-12T08:12:03","modified_gmt":"2021-06-12T08:12:03","slug":"this-man-joel-okwako","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/horizonnews.co.ke\/?p=1977","title":{"rendered":"This Man Joel Okwako"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Two years after former US President Barrack Obama&#8217;s\nmaiden trip to Kenya in 1989 to meet his father&#8217;s family, a peasant family in\nthe heart of the beautifully lush green Matende village of Navakholo\nSub-county, Kakamega County welcomed their last born son, whom they named Joel\nCastine Okwako. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"918\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/horizonnews.co.ke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/IMG-20210705-WA0462-918x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2070\" srcset=\"https:\/\/horizonnews.co.ke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/IMG-20210705-WA0462-918x1024.jpg 918w, https:\/\/horizonnews.co.ke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/IMG-20210705-WA0462-269x300.jpg 269w, https:\/\/horizonnews.co.ke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/IMG-20210705-WA0462-768x857.jpg 768w, https:\/\/horizonnews.co.ke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/IMG-20210705-WA0462-696x777.jpg 696w, https:\/\/horizonnews.co.ke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/IMG-20210705-WA0462-1068x1192.jpg 1068w, https:\/\/horizonnews.co.ke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/IMG-20210705-WA0462.jpg 1080w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 918px) 100vw, 918px\" \/><figcaption><strong><code>Joel Okwako<\/code><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The making of the man he is today can be attributed to a\nseries of life trajectories that served to shape and mold him for diverse\ncapacities in his young life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Joe Kiongozi, as many call him, was born on 31st December\n1989 to the family of the late Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Opete Okwako. He is the last\nborn in a family of 9.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/horizonnews.co.ke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/178678870_1592158204323873_9169928835965743861_n-1024x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1849\" srcset=\"https:\/\/horizonnews.co.ke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/178678870_1592158204323873_9169928835965743861_n-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/horizonnews.co.ke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/178678870_1592158204323873_9169928835965743861_n-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/horizonnews.co.ke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/178678870_1592158204323873_9169928835965743861_n-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/horizonnews.co.ke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/178678870_1592158204323873_9169928835965743861_n-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/horizonnews.co.ke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/178678870_1592158204323873_9169928835965743861_n-696x696.jpg 696w, https:\/\/horizonnews.co.ke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/178678870_1592158204323873_9169928835965743861_n-1068x1068.jpg 1068w, https:\/\/horizonnews.co.ke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/178678870_1592158204323873_9169928835965743861_n.jpg 1080w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&nbsp;Both of his\nparents succumbed to cancer in 2006 and 2011. When he was in form one, his\nfather died of liver cancer. His mother followed suit in 2011, shortly after he\ncleared his secondary school education at Chebuyusi Boys.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"864\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/horizonnews.co.ke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/IMG-20210705-WA0467-864x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2075\" srcset=\"https:\/\/horizonnews.co.ke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/IMG-20210705-WA0467-864x1024.jpg 864w, https:\/\/horizonnews.co.ke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/IMG-20210705-WA0467-253x300.jpg 253w, https:\/\/horizonnews.co.ke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/IMG-20210705-WA0467-768x910.jpg 768w, https:\/\/horizonnews.co.ke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/IMG-20210705-WA0467-696x825.jpg 696w, https:\/\/horizonnews.co.ke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/IMG-20210705-WA0467.jpg 963w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px\" \/><figcaption><strong><code>Joel Okwako and Owen Musoma<\/code><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Joel\u2019s early education began at Ebutenje and Eshilakwe\nPrimary Schools before he was transferred to Sori Primary School in Karungu,\nMigori County. He proceeded to join Sori Secondary School after the successful\ncompletion of his primary education. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"126\" src=\"https:\/\/horizonnews.co.ke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/IMG-20210420-WA0036-1024x126.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1760\" srcset=\"https:\/\/horizonnews.co.ke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/IMG-20210420-WA0036-1024x126.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/horizonnews.co.ke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/IMG-20210420-WA0036-300x37.jpg 300w, https:\/\/horizonnews.co.ke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/IMG-20210420-WA0036-768x95.jpg 768w, https:\/\/horizonnews.co.ke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/IMG-20210420-WA0036-696x86.jpg 696w, https:\/\/horizonnews.co.ke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/IMG-20210420-WA0036-1068x132.jpg 1068w, https:\/\/horizonnews.co.ke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/IMG-20210420-WA0036.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Medical conditions threatening his school life saw him  transferred to a school closer home after his first two years at Sori Secondary School. Subsequently, Joel joined St Paul&#8217;s Emulakha and later Friends School Chebuyusi where he sat his KSCE in 2010.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"653\" height=\"640\" src=\"https:\/\/horizonnews.co.ke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/IMG-20210610-WA0031.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1978\" srcset=\"https:\/\/horizonnews.co.ke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/IMG-20210610-WA0031.jpg 653w, https:\/\/horizonnews.co.ke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/IMG-20210610-WA0031-300x294.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 653px) 100vw, 653px\" \/><figcaption><code><strong>Joel Okwako during a fundraiser at Radison Blue Hotel in Nairobi<\/strong><\/code><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After the demise of his parents, Sir Joel attributes to\nlife being a living hell on earth,&#8217; most especially after his beloved mother\ndied. &#8220;I was raised by a mere housewife who did everything she could to\ngive me and my siblings the best things in life she could afford. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As a lay Apostolate leader at Ematende Church of God, she\nensured that her children were brought up in the ways of the Lord. On the other\nhand, my father, who was a tailor, was unbothered by my mother&#8217;s faith and\ncared less,&#8221; says Sir Okwako. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As a lastborn, he enjoyed his mother&#8217;s love the most and\nwas ultimately attached to her such that her death nearly paralyzed his entire\nexistence and survival. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1003\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/horizonnews.co.ke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/IMG-20210705-WA0466-1003x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2074\" srcset=\"https:\/\/horizonnews.co.ke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/IMG-20210705-WA0466-1003x1024.jpg 1003w, https:\/\/horizonnews.co.ke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/IMG-20210705-WA0466-294x300.jpg 294w, https:\/\/horizonnews.co.ke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/IMG-20210705-WA0466-768x784.jpg 768w, https:\/\/horizonnews.co.ke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/IMG-20210705-WA0466-696x711.jpg 696w, https:\/\/horizonnews.co.ke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/IMG-20210705-WA0466.jpg 1037w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1003px) 100vw, 1003px\" \/><figcaption><strong><code>Joel Okwako<\/code><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cMy mother struggled to raise us. I remember she sold\nvegetables \u2018mama mboga\u2019 and practiced subsistence farming to see me through\nschool. She gave her all to give me life. Looking back, I appreciate and at the\nsame time miss her. The void she left behind will never be filled by any other\nperson. Her untimely death must have been the most heartbreaking moment of my\nlife,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"719\" height=\"738\" src=\"https:\/\/horizonnews.co.ke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/IMG-20210529-WA0046.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1940\" srcset=\"https:\/\/horizonnews.co.ke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/IMG-20210529-WA0046.jpg 719w, https:\/\/horizonnews.co.ke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/IMG-20210529-WA0046-292x300.jpg 292w, https:\/\/horizonnews.co.ke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/IMG-20210529-WA0046-696x714.jpg 696w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 719px) 100vw, 719px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Handling two cancer patients for such a family was a tall\norder. Hanging on to hope that their loved ones would one day recover, and\nsomehow life would become better, they helplessly struggled to meet the\never-increasing demands associated with treating cancer patients. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">However, luck was not on their side as both parents\nsuccumbed, and the sun went down with the remaining pillar and source of hope\nin 2011- their mother. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"893\" src=\"https:\/\/horizonnews.co.ke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/IMG-20210705-WA0464-1024x893.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2072\" srcset=\"https:\/\/horizonnews.co.ke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/IMG-20210705-WA0464-1024x893.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/horizonnews.co.ke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/IMG-20210705-WA0464-300x262.jpg 300w, https:\/\/horizonnews.co.ke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/IMG-20210705-WA0464-768x670.jpg 768w, https:\/\/horizonnews.co.ke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/IMG-20210705-WA0464-696x607.jpg 696w, https:\/\/horizonnews.co.ke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/IMG-20210705-WA0464-1068x932.jpg 1068w, https:\/\/horizonnews.co.ke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/IMG-20210705-WA0464.jpg 1080w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption><strong><code>Joel Okwako charity work<\/code><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;Mum was such a strong woman, and a brave fighter.\nShe fought back throat cancer with her, and even on her deathbed, I know she\nwas fighting to have one more second with her babies,&#8221; a teary Joel\nrecalled. Given a chance, he could talk of his mother nonstop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Fast forward, after his mother&#8217;s burial, Joel traveled to Mombasa, where he briefly stayed with his uncle, a then employee at Mombasa municipal council, who had him enrolled at Mombasa TTI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/horizonnews.co.ke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/07ee2f7b9b094783bbbcfcbb779df4a3-1024x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1847\" srcset=\"https:\/\/horizonnews.co.ke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/07ee2f7b9b094783bbbcfcbb779df4a3-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/horizonnews.co.ke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/07ee2f7b9b094783bbbcfcbb779df4a3-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/horizonnews.co.ke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/07ee2f7b9b094783bbbcfcbb779df4a3-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/horizonnews.co.ke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/07ee2f7b9b094783bbbcfcbb779df4a3-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/horizonnews.co.ke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/07ee2f7b9b094783bbbcfcbb779df4a3-696x696.jpg 696w, https:\/\/horizonnews.co.ke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/07ee2f7b9b094783bbbcfcbb779df4a3-1068x1068.jpg 1068w, https:\/\/horizonnews.co.ke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/07ee2f7b9b094783bbbcfcbb779df4a3.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"> As fate would have it, his education at the institution was cut short after being chased from his uncle\u2019s residence over what he terms as a \u2018petty disagreement.\u2019 <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Thrown into the world of the unknown, Joel took to digging graves at Mbaraki Cemetry for a living. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He spent uncountable nights in the cold on the streets of Mombasa, and he was prone to arrests for roaming at night with no one to bail him out. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"665\" src=\"https:\/\/horizonnews.co.ke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/IMG-20210705-WA0460-1024x665.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2069\" srcset=\"https:\/\/horizonnews.co.ke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/IMG-20210705-WA0460-1024x665.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/horizonnews.co.ke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/IMG-20210705-WA0460-300x195.jpg 300w, https:\/\/horizonnews.co.ke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/IMG-20210705-WA0460-768x499.jpg 768w, https:\/\/horizonnews.co.ke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/IMG-20210705-WA0460-696x452.jpg 696w, https:\/\/horizonnews.co.ke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/IMG-20210705-WA0460.jpg 1052w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption><strong><code>Francis Atwoli (left), Lugari MP Ayub Savula (centre) and Joel Okwako (right) at a past function<\/code><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Selling roasted maize and groundnuts never yielded much\nfor him. His saving grace arrived in the guise of a commercial sex worker named\nAtieno, who sheltered him briefly in exchange for babysitting services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&nbsp;His daily wage was a paltry 50 shillings, with his duties sometimes including washing dirty inner clothes that often had bloodstains. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Atieno, however, provided him with sufficient food, unlike his initial host, his uncle, who kicked him out for &#8216;eating too much.&#8217;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As a part-time boxer at Mbaraki, Atieno introduced Joel to the game. He left Mbaraki as a lightweight boxer after winning over ten rounds and losing two. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One game left him with a broken left rib after an encounter with Okoth Dido of the ChafuaChafua team of the Kenya Police. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"737\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/horizonnews.co.ke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/IMG-20210705-WA0465-737x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2073\" srcset=\"https:\/\/horizonnews.co.ke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/IMG-20210705-WA0465-737x1024.jpg 737w, https:\/\/horizonnews.co.ke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/IMG-20210705-WA0465-216x300.jpg 216w, https:\/\/horizonnews.co.ke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/IMG-20210705-WA0465-768x1067.jpg 768w, https:\/\/horizonnews.co.ke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/IMG-20210705-WA0465-696x967.jpg 696w, https:\/\/horizonnews.co.ke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/IMG-20210705-WA0465.jpg 921w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 737px) 100vw, 737px\" \/><figcaption><strong><code>Joel Okwako<\/code><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Joel has worked as a casual laborer at Kenya Ports\nAuthority, loading luggage. In this period, severe backaches forced him to\nbriefly stop and rest before resuming work, where he was transferred to\nstorekeeping. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Deteriorating health saw him leaving Mombasa for Kakamega in an attempt to recover and regain good health. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Joel recently survived a near-death experience after undergoing a laparoscopic appendectomy when post-operation complications arose. He went into a coma for five days. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On waking up, he was airlifted to Nairobi Hospital for further advanced medical attention that accelerated his recovery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He has worked as a painter at One Acre Fund, Kakamega. He has also served at ASK \u2013 Kakamega Western Branch for over three years in the Arena and Protocol Committees. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At KALRO, former KARI, he worked as a field researcher focusing on aflatoxins for five months in 2017 before actively joining local politics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On college education, Joel finished his Diploma course in ICT at Sigalagala National Polytechnic. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He vied for a seat and lost but won in subsequent elections where he was elected Secretary-General of the institution&#8217;s town campus. He still pursues other academic qualifications he once desired growing up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Joel began his political career as an affiliate blogger\nfor the incumbent Lurambi Member of National Assembly MNA. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"853\" height=\"853\" src=\"https:\/\/horizonnews.co.ke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/IMG-20210610-WA0032.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1979\" srcset=\"https:\/\/horizonnews.co.ke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/IMG-20210610-WA0032.jpg 853w, https:\/\/horizonnews.co.ke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/IMG-20210610-WA0032-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/horizonnews.co.ke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/IMG-20210610-WA0032-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/horizonnews.co.ke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/IMG-20210610-WA0032-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/horizonnews.co.ke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/IMG-20210610-WA0032-696x696.jpg 696w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 853px) 100vw, 853px\" \/><figcaption><strong><code>Joel Okwako : PA to Lurambi MP Bishop Titus Khamala<\/code><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">His active and staunch support of the Lurambi MNA during the 2017 campaign period saw him landing the coveted PA position for the incumbent MNA, a position he holds to date. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In 2019, Joel was democratically elected a youth league secretary-general of Kakamega County in the Musalia Mudavadi-led ANC party. He owes exposure to the world of politics to this party position.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cMy life remains a work in progress, yet still, a masterpiece. I have learned so much from the life of my mother, and my life on the streets that no classroom ever exposed me to,&#8221; he said<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He added : &#8221; I have learned, that finding yourself in a tight place and everything seems to be going against you, and you feel like there is no hope and you cannot hang on any longer, never give up. That is the most opportune time to fight even harder like your life depends on it- because it does,&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&nbsp;And the tides will\nsomehow, somehow, turn in your favor,\u201d remarked Joel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/horizonnews.co.ke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/IMG-20210610-WA0034-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1981\" srcset=\"https:\/\/horizonnews.co.ke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/IMG-20210610-WA0034-1024x682.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/horizonnews.co.ke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/IMG-20210610-WA0034-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/horizonnews.co.ke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/IMG-20210610-WA0034-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/horizonnews.co.ke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/IMG-20210610-WA0034-696x464.jpg 696w, https:\/\/horizonnews.co.ke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/IMG-20210610-WA0034-1068x712.jpg 1068w, https:\/\/horizonnews.co.ke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/IMG-20210610-WA0034.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption><strong><code>Joel Okwako (centre) and Bishop Titus Khamala (right)<\/code><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On mourning a loved one, he says, \u201cit is easy to\nencourage someone who has lost a loved one and advise them to accept the loss\nand move one. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">However, when death knocks at your door and it is your\nturn to apply the advice you give others, it is hard. Sometimes, what one needs\nis time to process everything and mourn alone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&nbsp;My experiences were of double tragedy in gigantic proportions, and I was left a complete orphan, vulnerable and needy in a scattered family after both our parents died. I have struggled to be where I am today, and I will never, never give up.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ends <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Two years after former US President Barrack Obama&#8217;s maiden trip to Kenya in 1989 to meet his father&#8217;s family, a peasant family in the heart of the beautifully lush green Matende village of Navakholo Sub-county, Kakamega County welcomed their last born son, whom they named Joel Castine Okwako. The making of the man he is [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":1978,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1977","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-kenya-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>This Man Joel Okwako - Horizon News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/horizonnews.co.ke\/?p=1977\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"This Man Joel Okwako - Horizon News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Two years after former US President Barrack Obama&#8217;s maiden trip to Kenya in 1989 to meet his father&#8217;s family, a peasant family in the heart of the beautifully lush green Matende village of Navakholo Sub-county, Kakamega County welcomed their last born son, whom they named Joel Castine Okwako. 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