Jared Omondi Atellah on his rented motorcycle during the interview on Wednesday.
It has always been Jared Omondi Atella's aspiration to be admitted to the bar as an advocate of the High Court of Kenya.
It is a dream that the 37-year-old keeps alive despite the many hurdles that life has thrown in his way.
Twelve years ago, Mr Omondi, a boda boda rider based in Kisumu, took a bold step that left many people, including his family, friends and colleagues, stunned. His ambitions led him to apply for a degree in Law at the University of Nairobi.
His determination and resolve aside, it just was not a smooth ride. In 2017, while preparing to join fourth year, the same year he had hoped to graduate, Mr Omondi dropped out of school due to lack of funds.
His financial challenges coupled with his duties as a single father, however, did not deter him from soldiering on with his pursuit for a career in law. Finally, he is set to join in February 2025.
“I have always had a burning desire to become a lawyer to represent the vulnerable, especially those unable to raise legal representation fees and see them get justice,” said Mr Omondi as we settled in his two roomed house in Kisumu's Nyalenda slums, for an interview.
Hanging on one of the walls of the house, are two large printed pictures of his seven-year-old daughter and four-year-old son.
The son is donning a graduation gown and a hat with a big smile while his daughter is dressed in a checked blue school uniform.
On top of a coffee table standing in the middle of his living room are a number of law books, hand books and a pen.
This is the place Mr Omondi says he spends most of time studying.
“What keeps me going are my two children, they are my motivation. My desire is to give them the best future. My dream is that one day, they will look back and be proud of the man they call dad,” says Mr Omondi.
But the description of the room is not complete without mentioning the gigantic picture hanging on the wall adjacent to the bedroom.
A photo Omondi took in December 2023 when he graduated at Nairobi university with a degree in law.
The rented house, Mr Omondi says, could tell his entire story if given a chance. It is in this house that he lived with his estranged wife and two children.
The decision to work as a boda boda operator, he says, was as a result of losing his job during the Covid-19 scourge.
Because he was the sole breadwinner, staying at home was not an option.
This, however, was not the kind of life Mr Omondi had envisaged for himself when he was admitted at Uriri Boys High School back in 2002 for his secondary school education.
In 2005, he sat the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education and scored a mean grade of C+.
“At the time, I wanted to pursue a course in animation, but the fees were beyond reach for my parents. Instead, I ended up studying Information Technology at diploma level,” he says.
In 2007, Omondi secured a job at a cyber café where he engaged in graphic design, video editing, printing and photography.
Sadly, he ended up relocating to his rural home in Bware village, Migori county when the business was affected by the 2007 post-election violence.
In 2008, Mr Omondi secured yet another job at a cyber café in Nairobi but quit a few months later due to poor pay and the high cost of transport and accommodation.
“My next job was working at a construction site. While the pay was not that good, I would also engage in acting comedy and use the earnings to sustain my needs,” says Mr Omondi.
During his free time, the father of two says he would attend court sessions at the Milimani law courts, a place where he started developing a desire to become a lawyer.
In 2010, Mr Omondi relocated to South Sudan where he had secured yet another job at a cyber café but returned to Kenya after failing to adapt to the new work environment.
He travelled back to Nairobi yet again and settled back for the construction job. Meanwhile, he never stopped attending court sessions.
“In 2012, I applied to study law at the University of Nairobi and secured an admission at the Kisumu branch in 2013,” says Mr Omondi who had relocated to the lakeside city.
He had also been lucky enough to secure a data entry job and channelled his earnings towards his university fees.
He also married his long-time love and was blessed with a baby girl in 2017, the same year he lost his job.
Mr Omondi says he decided to defer his studies as he sought employment to take care of his young family.
He got another job in 2019 but the contract ended in 2020 during the Covid 19 pandemic. At the time, most of the employers were laying off workers and so his hope of securing a job kept sinking.
The frustrations to fend for the family saw Mr Omondi resort to boda boda business. He purchased a motorcycle with part of his savings and hit the road after a couple of weeks training.
“The financial constraints saw me have constant fights with my wife who was against my boda boda business. Eventually, we parted ways in August 2020,” says Mr Omondi.
He adds “my mother lives a few kilometers from my place so I would still see my children on a daily basis, I would drop and pick them from school while I would also take them out twice every month,” says My Omondi.
With the children out of the way, Mr Omondi immersed himself fully in work, putting in extra hours in a bid to raise enough money for the university fees.
Luckily, with the help of his family, friends and savings Omondi was able to clear the pending fee of Sh250,000 at the University of Nairobi and later got re-admitted to clear his four year course in 2023.
In December of the same year, he graduated with a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B), Second Class, Lower Division.
Next month Mr Omondi is expected to begin his final journey towards achieving his lifetime dream of becoming a learned friend when he joins KSL.
“My only worry right now is how my two children will survive during the two years I'll be away in school,” he said.
