Veteran media personality Leonard Mbotela, who died last week aged 84, was one of the most iconic voices in Kenyan radio well know for his popular radio and television programme, “Je Huu ni Uungwana?”.
And even though Mbotela was a celebrity figure, the story of his family is less well known, more so the significant influence that the Mbotelas had on the Anglican Church in Nairobi.
In a recent interview I conducted with Mbotela, he opened up a lot about his family. I interviewed Mbotela while I was documenting the history of the ACK St Stephen’s Cathedral Jogoo Road, which was celebrating its centenary in 2023.
During the 2023 interview that took place at the historic city cathedral, Mbotela was upbeat and greeted everyone on set including the camera person, exchanging pleasantries.
Mbotela revealed that his family greatly impacted St Stephen’s Church right from its humble beginnings on Jackson Road. St Stephen’s Church started as a moderately-sized church on Jackson Road, made of timber and corrugated iron and was nicknamed “Tin Tabernacle”. It was the first Anglican Church to be planted in Nairobi in 1903.
Mbotela’s grandfather, James Juma Mbotela, served the church on Jackson Road under a white missionary called Harrison.
His grandfather, who traced his roots to the Yao clan in Malawi, was a respected church elder who also doubled as a lay reader. His grandfather had been captured to be sold as a slave but was later freed and started life at the Kenyan coast.
In the 1950s, the government chose the location of St Stephen’s Church on Jackson Road to build the Parliament. This meant that the church had to be moved to a new site on Jogoo Road.
“My grandfather told me that the colonialists consulted the elders including my grandfather about the decision first. The elders accepted, which is how the church was moved to Jogoo Road,” said Mbotela.
Mambo Mbotela
Photo credit: File | Nation
The government provided both funding and land to facilitate the construction of a new sanctuary on Jogoo Road in 1952. The Church was ready in one year and on September 27, 1953, it was consecrated and the congregation moved.
“Everyone including the elders and my grandfather were happy with the building of the church. The congregants were very satisfied. The materials used to build the church were different from those in other churches. The church was built in a very special way,” said Mbotela.
“My greatest joy was coming to church and meeting with other children. We had good teachers who taught us the word of God. We also sang in the choir. The congregants were always very happy with the songs we sang,” said Mbotela.
Mbotela’s grandfather was a church elder who went around the estates encouraging people to join the newly built church built on Jogoo Road (then known as Doonholm Road).
As a lay reader, he held sway and was able to convince many Kenyans to join the church. Mbotela intimates that his grandfather was very strict with religion and everyone in their household had to go to church.
April 15, 1964: Its announced that Kenya Broadcasting Corporation is to be taken over by the Government. The new service will be a self-accounting department in the Ministry of Information, Broadcasting and Tourism, and will be known as "The Voice of Kenya.Here, one of the VOK veteran radio presenter Leonard Mambo Mbotela in studio.
Photo credit: File | Nation
Mbotela’s grandfather was a choral music enthusiast who established the choir at St Stephen’s church.
His grandfather would play the big drum in church as he led the choir during worship services. The choir later became one of the most famous church choirs in Kenya.
“My grandfather taught congregants how to sing. Funny enough, some of them did not even know how to hold books. So, he showed them how to do it,” said Mbotela.
Mambo Mbotela was born in May 1940 to James Mbotela and Ida Mbotela who are both deceased. The first of eight siblings, he was a smart, cheeky child who was a natural entertainer. He was loved by his family and the community.
End of an era: KBC's Leonard Mbotela dies at 85
He attended Freetown Primary School in Kisauni before joining Buxton Primary. He joined Kitui High School when his father was posted as the first African District Education Officer in Kitui.
Before that, his father, James Mbotela, had worked as a high school teacher at Kagumo Secondary School where he taught renowned personalities such as Julius Kiano, Joseph Karanja, who became the vice president and Joseph Kareithi, who became the head of the civil service.
He also taught Duncan Ndegwa, who later became Governor of the Central Bank of Kenya.
“My father, James Mbotela, really loved Bishop Leonard Beecher who was his teacher at Alliance Boys. Apart from naming me after him, he even copied his handwriting,” said Mbotela.
Leonard Beecher became the first archbishop of the Province of East Africa, comprising Kenya and Tanzania, from 1960 to 1970.
Mbotela, a veteran broadcaster who worked for the Voice of Kenya (later renamed KBC) for many years, made significant contributions to the Anglican church.
Leonard Mambo Mbotela during a media briefing in Nairobi on October 19, 2022.
Photo credit: Francis Nderitu | Nation Media Group
Mbotela, himself, was a choirmaster in Nakuru ACK church in the 1960s. he developed a close relationship with Rev Manasses Kuria who later became the Archbishop of Kenya.
He took a keen interest in the choir at St Stephen’s Church and sang under the directorship of Darius Mbela. Mbela used to take the choir’s music to Mbotela so that he could promote it on the Voice of Kenya (VOK).
Mbotela, Leornard Mambo.
Photo credit: Pool
“Although Mbela was my boss, we had a very good relationship. He was very respectful and never coerced me to play the music. Many people loved the songs, which he composed with the help of Sikukuu.
"The compositions were beautiful and the choir sang with angelic voices. Even today, the music is at the station’s library,” said Mbotela.
Mbotela intimated that he met his wife when she came to visit him in the studio as a fan. “She was a great fan of my programs, so she came to Broadcasting House to see what I looked like. She was so cute I fell in love with her,” he said.
Alice Mwikali, wife to the late Mambo Mbotela flanked by other mourners during body viewing, at All Saints Cathedral Nairobi on February 14, 2025, after a requiem mass in honor of the veteran Journalist, he will be laid to rest in Langata Cemetry tomorrow on Saturday 15.
Photo credit: Wilfred Nyangaresi | Nation Media Group
"I took her round the studios, we had tea, and she sat through one of the shows I was doing,” he said.
“I have fond memories of St. Stephen’s Church. I married my wife Alice Mwikali in this church on June 6, 1970,” said Mbotela. Together they had three children, Iddah, Jimmy, and George. Iddah and George live abroad while Jimmy is in the country. In a 2017 interview, Mbotela said his wife lived in their rural home. “She loves the peace and quiet there,” he said.
“I was raised as a Christian. I belong to the Anglican church, in fact, my whole family is Anglican. My grandfather raised my father as a Christian. My father taught me to be a Christian, and I am still one today,” Mbotela concluded.
Dr John Ndavula is a senior lecturer in mass communication at Murang’a University. He is also a fiction writer and editor.
