Veteran sports writer, Stephen Ongaro is dead.
Ongaro, who covered sports events for Nation Media Group platforms from 1977 till his retirement in 2008, died on Thursday while being rushed to Siaya County Referral Hospital from his home in Ndere, Alego Osonga Sub-County in Siaya County.
While confirming the death on Saturday, his wife Elizabeth Achieng’ said the former Kenya Sports Journalist of the Year, who died aged 74, has been undergoing treatment at Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital in Kisumu for the past one year.
Fondly referred to as ‘Don King’ by his colleagues in the media due to his love for boxing, Ongaro, who specialised in football and boxing, documented the careers of leading Kenyan sportsmen and sportswomen who brought glory to the country since the early 70s. He left Nation Media Group in 2008.
His peers include Larry Ngala, Roy Gachuhi, Gishinga Njoroge, John Nene, Nicholas Musonye, the late Jonny Pewa, and Hezekiah Wepukhulu, also deceased.
Ongaro, who hails from Oseno K’Omolo village in Ndere, Alego Osonga Sub-County in Siaya County leaves behind a widow Elizabeth and four children - Berverline, Janice, Correta and Emmanuel.
Veteran journalist Gishinga Njoroge who worked with Ongaro at NMG’s sports desk described him as a thorough journalist who covered boxing at a time Kenyan boxing was at the same level as that of Cuba and the US.
“He covered some of the greatest boxers in the world, including Muhammad Ali and George Foreman. He traveled to Bangok in Thailand, and the former Yugoslavia to cover World Boxing Championships, and World Military Games respectively. He was very committed to his family,” said Njoroge.
His former colleague at NMG, John Nene, said: “Steve was very close to me, and coincidentally he was my neighbour in Nairobi’s Umoja estate when I moved there in 1986. We used to compare notes in boxing, and he was very passionate about the sport, something that is lacking among most journalists today. We did a lot. We had our own ‘secret wars’ in journalism, something like a friendly competition.”
Larry Ngala said: “He had a sharp memory, particularly about events in boxing and football. I remember his father and my late uncle who were both strong Catholic used to be invited by Pope John Paul II to the Vatican every year.”
“Oh no! Ongaro had photogenic memory and would recount sporting events decades age to the day. A great boxing pundit. He was the man who used to give boxers nicknames like Thomas ‘Black Rhino’ Okusi, Sarah ‘Angel of War’ Achieng, and Conjestina ‘Hand of Stones’ Achieng. He was unassuming but once you knew him, it would be easy to get along with him,” his former colleague Charles Nyende said.
