Whenever Jack Ojiambo returned home from school in the evening, musical sound always emitted from his room.
Sometimes it was piano and at other times, jazz.
His father Peter Hillary Ojiambo felt it was noise. But the younger Ojiambo did not stop.
So when Chris Kirubi was setting up Capital FM radio station in 1996, Ojimabo’s father suggested to him to consider priming a musical slot and “have some young man who keeps making noise on my ears in the house with jazz music on it.”
Veteran politician and academic Julia Ojiambo, the mother of Jack, told the Star that when she learned of the request, she said “why not?”
That is how Jack got the opening to pursue his ambition in radio and music. He never looked back.
Jack died late last month and was buried on March 1. He was 53 years old and a father of one.
Jack was a lawyer who specialised in arbitration but was mainly known as a jazz radio presenter on Capital FM.
He also worked with Nation FM and an internet-based station in South Africa. And while he only got known mainly from his radio stints, he only did it in between his lawyering, his mother said.
Julia said that the upbringing they gave to Jack and her other children exposed them to every facet of life, with a mindset of pursuing their ambition howsoever they liked it.
“Jack was just a gem to the family. We loved that child very much,” she said of her only son. Her other children are Theresa Ojiambo, Josephine Ojiambo and Sanda Ojiambo.
Sanda is a former Safaricom executive who was appointed the executive director of UN Global Compact while Josephine is a public health specialist and a diplomat.
Julia said that though they afforded their children the best formal education access at their time, their parenting model was liberal. They allowed the kids to explore any area of interest and passion.
For instance, during school breaks and in between transitions, they would send them to do community work and learn some hands-on duties to acquire such skills.
"We would have them do some tailoring, manual work, instrument playing, ballroom dance, home science activities, cooking, plumbing, among others," she said.
"Letting children pursue their dreams and ambitions was a cardinal virtue in our parenting," she said.
"If one feels like exploring swimming to get a feel of water, they do; if they want to try football, they do."
Her philosophy is that work should give someone comfort. That is why she egged her son on to explore working arrangements to do jazz in between his work.
"He did his lawyering on weekdays but segmented his time over the weekend to do his music," Julia said of Jack.
Jack also tried his hands in politics, becoming the secretary-general of the Labour Party associated with his mother.
He unsuccessfully ran for the Dagoreti North parliamentary seat in 2017 on the Labour Party ticket.
Edited by P.O
