Musikari at 80: Family, golf and prostate cancer

The clouds are heavy on a Wednesday morning as a focused Mr Kombo raises his club to have a go at a golf ball. His lean frame looks all the more diminutive in this sea of grass. Trees of different species and ages are lined as far as the eyes can see, staring down at him and teasing him to give it the best he’s got.

The sound made when the club meets the ball lets everyone know that he has shot it with finesse. He plays at handicap 22 and so he knows a thing or two about teeing off. Mr Kombo is at the golf course because of 80. Not just 80; he is here because it is the prostate cancer awareness month—and generally a men wellness month.

How, you ask? Normal birthdays are celebrated over a day or a couple of days, but not Mr Kombo’s 80th. Since March when he turned 80 proper, he and his family have made sure it is a year to remember.

“My 80th birthday was in March, and we agreed with my family that the celebration of my 80th birthday will go on until next March,” he joked on Wednesday evening.

His family has given him quite the treat this year, hoping to tick some items off his bucket list. He had never been to Mt Kenya, and so his wife, Dorcas, organised a hike up to the Old Moses Camp that is 3,300 metres up the 5,199-metre mountain.

The birthday treat was just getting started. His grandchildren also wanted a part of the action, and he told them he wanted to plant trees. He challenged them to plant 80 trees in Murang’a at a farm owned by one of his daughters, however, they exceeded the target and did upwards of 140.

That was not all. One of his children organised a visit to Zimbabwe to see the Victoria Falls. Mr Kombo prefers to refer to the falls by their local name: Mosi-oa-Tunya. As a Member of Parliament and a member of the Cabinet, he travelled quite a lot, however, he says, he never quite got to visit the famous falls.

Another of his children knew he had never been to Wimbledon, the famed tennis tournament, so Mr Kombo got to head to Britain to watch the action live. The birthday activities did not end there. Another of Mr Kombo’s daughters, Namulanta, thought her father’s influence could translate into awareness, so she came up with a plan where Mr Kombo could draw into golf, a game he loves and which he plays three days each week. They then tied up the golf with matters to do with men’s mental health and prostate cancer awareness.

Read: They are after my party, Kombo says

That is the reason Mr Kombo was at the golf course on Wednesday. He sponsored a tournament that day, and the overall winner of the tourney that attracted 142 entrants was Watson Burugu. The Sh300,000 raised was later in the evening handed over to the Faraja Cancer Support Trust’s CEO David Makumi.

“My daughter, Namulanta, came up with the idea that I have spent my life caring about people. She came up with this idea of men’s mental health and prostate cancer. And apparently, the month of November worldwide is celebrated for men’s mental health and prostate cancer, and that’s why we decided that we’ll do something here at VetLab,” he told the audience before handing over the cheque.

He said in an interview earlier in the day: “I have looked after people as a leader. In my sunset years, I still want to look after people, and I’ve picked on the issue of men’s mental wellbeing.”

Namulanta told Lifestyle that the day-long competition might develop into an annual event.

“Maybe, it can grow into a tournament. He wants to find ways for discourse, and what’s important to him is not only discussing the mental health and physical health of men, but to weave in integrity and the value of personal integrity,” she said.

She added that they searched for an organisation that deals with men’s mental health to donate to them but could not find any, therefore, they settled on Faraja.

“We would have loved to have given some money to a mental health awareness organisation, particularly one that is dealing with men, but we struggled to find that,” she said.

On the issue of mental health, Mr Kombo told the gathering: “I just want to encourage each and every one in here: when you have an issue, please talk about it. That is what helps you in life. I see people killing each other, spouses and so on and so forth. It is a mental crisis. If you talk about your problems, you will not go through those crises at all.”

He told Lifestyle that he has lost many friends to cancer, including “a very close friend of mine…”

“I’ve had very, very personal experiences with both prostate cancer and cancer of the marrow,” said Mr Kombo, “I have watched my friends suffer with these things, and that’s why I think about it.”

Former Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe also attended the Wednesday event. He explained a few realities about prostate cancer.

“Once you get to the age of 35 and you are a man, there is a 99 per cent chance you are going to experience an enlarged prostate. I am no doctor, but during my period in the ministry, I came to learn that the guy sitting next to you, if he is over 50 years old, is actually talking of or facing an issue of prostate enlargement,” said Mr Kagwe.

“It is no big deal. If you have a prostate, it just means you are a man. And if you’re a man, it [prostate enlargement] is going to come. Women talk about breast cancer very easily. They talk about getting mammograms... For men, we don’t even say that we have a prostate. It’s like it’s a secret. It’s an organ we have in secret. There is no secrecy; everybody knows that you have got one, and if you’re in my age group, everybody knows that it’s enlarged, so, why are you pretending that you are unique? Good people, get yourself checked,” he added.

So, how is life in retirement for Mr Kombo, a man who was first elected as the Webuye MP in 1992 and hung his boots after the 2013 General Election?

In his heyday, he became minister of two dockets: Local Government (2004-2007), and Regional Development Authorities (June-October 2004). He was also the assistant minister for Planning and National Development between January and October 2003.

Read: Kombo and MPs attack Raila

First of all, he insists that retiring is possible for a politician. Ms Jael Mbogo, a firebrand politician in her day, told Lifestyle earlier this year that a politician never quite retires, but Mr Kombo insists that he put it all behind.

“There’s life after politics,” he says. “And since I left active politics, I enjoy myself playing a game of golf. And in golf, you make a lot of friends. In golf, you relax. You exercise. There are a lot of things to keep you healthy and strong.”

His last leadership position was that of nominated MP between 2008 and 2013. In 2013, he vied for Bungoma senator but lost in an election that was nullified by the courts. After he failed to clinch the seat in the by-election, his family advised him to call it a day.

His wife, Dorcas Kombo, told Lifestyle: “As a family, we sat and we said, ‘Mzee, you have done enough.’”

It is clear Mr Kombo doesn’t want to engage in politics when he politely declines to answer our question about the recent dissolution of William Ruto’s cabinet and its parallels to the 2005 Cabinet dissolution by Mwai Kibaki. His answer is that he did his dance in the political arena.

“The Bukusu say that a good dancer does not stay on the stage all the time. So, I had my dance. What we did with Kibaki, I was dancing. So, let them dance,” he says.

He also cites Bukusu traditions when he refuses to disclose how many children he has.

A podcast that Mr Kombo did with his daughter, Namulanta, three years ago, won a BBC podcast competition. In it, he described how his job cost him time with family because he was always busy.

“Now that he’s retired, he picks his grandchildren up from school, visits their science fairs, and appreciates the little moments of spending time with them,” reads an introduction of the podcast by the BBC.

When we asked Mr Kombo about how he is handling family in retirement, he said he is making up for lost time.

“When you are a politician, you wake up in the morning in your rural home and, like in my case, there are 50 people at the gate. And your children are in the house. You actually leave your children and go to talk to the 50 people (at) the gate. So, it is your children who suffer. And so, in my retirement, I found a new calling. [I had] ignored my children to serve the public, and now my children have given me grandchildren and I would like to spend time with my grandchildren — and I do. I do. So that’s why there is life after [retirement]. Beautiful life out there,” he said.

He later added: “Even as I was not there for my children because of my busy life, we remained close and we are now getting even closer.”

“My advice to people retiring: if you are close to your family, I’m telling you, it is a treasure,” the octogenarian added.

Namulanta said what most people don’t know about Mr Kombo is how funny he is and how he can blend in with anyone.

“He’s a very approachable person. He will always stop and say hello. He’s also very funny. He’s able to create a light touch in whatever he’s talking about,” she said.

When he was in politics, was it hectic for the rest of the household? His wife, Dorcas, said she had grown up in a politician’s home and so she understood.

“My father, the Honourable Nathan Waliaula Munoko, was an MP from the 60s and he was the first senator of Bungoma County. And he’s still alive; he’s 103 years,” said Dorcas, a 71-year-old retired chartered accountant. “We were taught how to mind the public; to mind the people and just navigate around it. It’s not a nuisance. Those are the people who vote you in.”

Now that he is retired, Dorcas said, the family wants him to live easy.

“We would like to give him an opportunity to enjoy the remaining years, so we have agreed [with] the children that we put as little pressure on him for the rest of his life as we can, and we would like to listen to what he wants to do,” added Dorcas. “[For his birthday], we intend to celebrate him until he turns 81.”

Namulanta says that with Mr Kombo’s messages on mental health, integrity and cancer awareness, they are now ready to “share” him with the world again.

“We are willing to share him. Before, we were not willing to share him. It was not our choice. But now, we want everyone to benefit,” she said.

“I told him about November, which globally is a month where awareness is raised for men’s physical and mental health, particularly prostate cancer, and he felt it would be a good opportunity to raise money [and] host a club night at the VetLab club,” she added.

After observing her father play golf, Namulanta says: “He is so fit, so agile. I can’t believe he is 80 years old. His level of fitness is amazing.”

“[In] his whole life, his fitness mentally and physically have always been important to him; whether he’s playing golf, playing squash, as a political agitator, running from police,” she adds.

Mr Kombo plays his golf mostly on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays; and sometimes on Saturdays.

“I find it very relaxing. In terms of exercise, by the time you finish a round, you have walked close to 10 kilometres. So, it is very, very good. Remember, golf is the only game that you can play up to very late ages. One of my partners that I play with is 87 years old, and he plays good golf. I am 80; I play good golf and we have a big laugh and relax,” said Mr Kombo.

He is an ardent fan of English Premier League side Manchester United, and he says the love affair began five decades ago.

“I’ve been with Man U since the 70s,” he says. “I wish them good luck with the new [coach’s] regime, and I’m praying that we are not [relegated]. You know, Man U was once relegated.”

His parting shot is that men should open up.

“You don’t have to be ashamed, you don’t have to be embarrassed, because if you talk about it, help is pretty close and you can find a lot of help. In the case of prostate cancer, as you know, any man from the age of 40, you should start thinking about it and checking yourself regularly,” he says.

Talk of a men’s wellness Musikari, er, policeman.

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