Dennis Itumbi, Head of Presidential Special Projects and Creative Economy, has paid heartfelt tribute to the late veteran broadcaster Leonard Mambo Mbotela, recalling the profound impact Mbotela had on his life.
While mourning the loss of the broadcasting icon, Itumbi highlighted Mbotela’s simple yet powerful words and his ability to tell stories that defined morality.
He also noted that Mbotela’s memorable quotes “made us think and brought honour to the profession of scribes.”
Itumbi shared a personal memory, saying, “I choose Sunday to pay tribute to Leonard Mambo Mbotela—because it was on Sundays that he entered my life. After church, my grandfather would place his red radio at the granary door, turn up the volume, and for that hour, it was mandatory listening: Je, Huu Ni Ungwana.”
As Mbotela took his final bow, Itumbi saluted him, calling him “the voice of a generation” and “the conscience of a people.” He added, “Rest well. Safiri Salama.”
Itumbi described Mbotela as a man with “poetic cadence and piercing wit” whose storytelling made people reflect on their values. “Mbotela told story after story, challenging our morality and thoughts.
Like Shakespeare, he made us laugh at ourselves—only to leave us pondering, questioning. Je, huu ni ungwana? Nauliza, je, huu ni Ungwana?”
Itumbi also remembered Mbotela’s courage during a difficult moment in history. “In 1982, he was forced at gunpoint to announce the coup attempt.
His voice was so commanding that history itself conscripted it. That same voice boomed through our village Sundays, delivering lessons on right and wrong,” he said.
Mbotela’s death was confirmed by his family on Friday, who shared that he had been unwell for some time.
Born in 1940 in Mombasa, Mbotela began his groundbreaking broadcasting career in 1964 at what was then the Voice of Kenya, now Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC).
In 1966, he launched the iconic Swahili program Je, Huu ni Ungwana? which humorously addressed societal behaviours and etiquette.
Mbotela retired in 2022 after an incredible 58 years of service, becoming Kenya’s longest-serving broadcaster in the nation’s history.
