Kenyan Man Congratulates Mum for Starting New School after Dad Pushed Her out Of Similar Business
- Onyango Otieno is a proud son, as his mother is slowly reviving a business that his dad allegedly ran down while seeking to control the family's finances
- The talented poet also claimed that his dad used to have nasty fights with his mum and at one time strangled her, but despite all that, she still stuck by him
- Despite having a lot of responsibilities, Onyango's dad quit his job and now sells sukuma wiki in Ugenya while his mother is running the Fortunate Academy and a new school in Kitengela
Kajiado: A young man identified as Onyango Otieno has hailed his dear mum for getting back on her feet, starting a new school after her allegedly abusive husband pushed her out.
Source: Facebook
Speaking to TUKO.co.ke, Onyango shared that his father was the one who used to bring home the bacon, and initially he was opposed to his mum starting a business to stand on her feet.
At the time, he wanted to buy a car, but his wife insisted they should buy land where they would build their home, with a view to starting a school someday.
How did Onyango's mum start a school?
Onyango's mum went ahead with the idea, and the business picked up pretty quickly.
"He was still working but got sacked twice in a span of three years. Eventually, he resigned from his last place of work without talking to mum about it, citing that he was going to sit with her at the business office as a fellow administrator," he said.
"Mum begged him to look for a job to support the family as the school business could not sufficiently cater to all our needs. I had just joined Daystar University and my brother was in high school. He refused; he wanted to control the money," he added.
As Onyango's dad moved and started working with his wife in the school he had initially opposed, their relationship started becoming rocky and they fought every day.,
"Nasty, nasty fights, blood and bruises. He’d take money from the office every evening for drinking, before mum insisted on opening a business bank account.," said Onyango.
"He barred me from being a signatory of the account citing mum and I would steal money from him. We could not understand why family money was all of a sudden his money," he added.
Source: Facebook
Why did Onyango start fending for himself?
At only 23, Onyango had to drop out of campus to start fending for himself. At this point, the young man thought that his life was over. He, however, chose to pick himself up and do something with what he had left, which was words.
" I began performing poetry in dingy clubs in town. Slowly and slowly I became popular for my gift and eventually co-founded Fatuma's Voice in 2013. A movement that shaped the course of poetry performance in Kenya at the time," disclosed the poet.
In 2015, Onyango advised his mum to look for something else to do and leave the school to his dad.
"He would strangle her at 5 am because she didn’t want to let go of the school. I told her this man will kill you like we see in the news and maybe finish us all after he finishes you and she listened," he said.
How did Onyango's mum start another school?
Onyango's mum waited for her book royalties, as they’re both authors, and leased land in Kitengela, then started another school, Fortunate Academy, from scratch.
Apparently, his dad was so angry when he learnt that and ordered her to close the school down. All along, he only wanted his wife to depend on him, as his wife's independence would trigger him.
"He’d get angrier that we sided with her because nobody liked him. In between all that madness, he allegedly slept with an employee of that school, and she got pregnant; they have a child he denies to this day. But you can only hide so much in a town; people know you," said Onyango.
Onyango's mum slowly left him to manage the school, and it only took five years of his mismanagement for the whole thing to go down. Eventually, he claimed to leave the business so that his wife could run it.
He had come to his wit’s end as parents pulled out their kids from the school, unhappy at how he operated. They blatantly told him that things were better when his mum was around, but the man’s pride could not deter him from giving up power.
How is Onyango's mum rebuilding?
At the moment, Onyango's mum is rebuilding the school from its desolation, like the hard worker she is. Fortunate Academy is doing incredibly well, and she’s thinking of taking out a loan to buy a school van now.
"I fight with her on staying with that man despite his violence, but I am in awe of her resilience. The man is now selling sukuma wiki in Ugenya, ever calling to ask for money. None of us picks his calls anymore except his wife," said the disappointed son.
"The home is barely a shell of what it used to be, that’s what violence does to a family. I am wary of men who only feel manly when a woman is below them. Wary of men who despise women’s existence as second fiddle to them," he said.
To Onyango, the above kind of men are merchants of poverty, and there is the whole world to show for it.
"Toni Morrison said If you can only be tall because somebody's on their knees, then you have a serious problem," he said.
Mombasa woman lists 4 red flags she ignored from abusive husband
In another story, a mother from Mombasa county was subjected to years of emotional abuse from her husband, a KDF officer.
The soldier often threatened to kill his wife and their children in case she ever walked out of their marriage.
She told TUKO.co.ke that after persevering for years, her husband escalated his violence and eventually shot her.
Proofreading by Jackson Otukho, copy editor at TUKO.co.ke.
Source: TUKO.co.ke
