Life and Times of Prof Peter Odhiambo Ndege who was a Great Scholar, Mighty Historian, Full of Humour
Maurice Amutabi
Life and Times of Prof Peter Odhiambo Ndege who was a Great Scholar Full of Humour
By Maurice N. Amutabi, PhD
I first met Prof. Peter Odhiambo Ndege in the 1980s when he was a struggling masters degree student and I was a struggling insecure undergraduate. Those days even being an undergraduate was a privilege because there were always threats of repeating a year or being discontinued, making everyone insecure and on their toes. The examination fever was real and the entire university system went silent during exams, and every space in Gandhi memorial library or the Jomo Kenyatta Memorial Library was taken during exams and some comrades sat on the floor, as they waited for someone to leave so that they could take their space. Taifa Hall which was often the place for entertainment during the semester was turned into a slaughterhouse as the principal center of major exams. Few of us were called “promising undergraduates” so were privy to many things happening around the department including being herded into seminar paper presentations as audience, and running errands for lecturers and professors in the department, such as borrowing books for them in the library using their cards or buying for them newspapers or making photocopies for them at Rank Xerox in town, near Maendeleo House. I was therefore shocked to hear about the passing of Prof. Ndege who was a full professor and a great intellectual per excellence.
When a full professor such as Prof. Peter Benedict Odhiambo Ndege passes away in Kenya, many years of training and millions of academic investments are lost. Such scholars leave behind many biological and academic orphans. It is even worse when such a person has many doctoral and master’s students studying under them such as Prof. Peter Odhiambo Ndege. Although we celebrate his life on this earth, we also mourn the loss, for he was a great scholar, friend, father, husband, brother and teacher who contributed a lot to Kenya’s development and intellectual history. He was among the less than 500 full professors in Kenya, a position he was promoted to at Moi University in June 2010. On campus, he was to be found in the company of Prof. Peter Amuka, Prof. Kembo Sure and Dr. Timothy Onduru. He liked the library and loved reading and writing. His research titles and topics were very creative and insightful.
One band known as Simba Wanyika sang that money is the soap that cleanses the soul but to Prof. Peter Odhiambo Ndege, it was humour that cleanses the heart or soul. Prof. Peter Odhiambo Ndege endeared himself to many people through his easy smile, humour, interesting jokes and laughter. I first met him in 1987 at the University of Nairobi when he was among three master’s students presenting Masters Research findings at Education Theater II in Education Building. I was a second-year undergraduate student at the time and one of the professors had picked me to file things for him in his office when I heard about the seminar at which Odhiambo Ndege was presenting. I ventured to see what the seminar was all about only to encounter three caged people, under relentless attack and battling for their lives.
The epic seminar was in the afternoon from 2 pm and Peter Odhiambo Ndege was the first from the gates. As he presented, he beamed with confidence and he seemed to get favour from the members of the audience. He enthused confidence and intelligence by the way he responded to questions from the eminent scholar’s present, constantly saying that he was going to incorporate their views or ideas in his work, and praising them for their insightful points of view and correction. He knew how to answer questions and also massage the egos of his seniors. The way he handled questions impressed the audience and he was proposed for a job in a university away from Kagumo Teachers College, where he was a tutor at the time. Some of the prominent scholars said that he did not belong to high school or TTC as a teacher but to University. The other two presenters were not so lucky and I will not mention their names here because it would easily amount to humiliation.
In the 1980s, the History Department of the University of Nairobi was vibrant. It was the home of the Historical Association of Kenya and host of numerous seminar papers, presented every Wednesday. It was the hotbed of scholarship in Kenya. It was a fine tradition and allowed students to witness academic exchanges in Education Theater I and II, and sometimes Taifa Hall. It allowed us to come face to face with academic heavyweights such as Bethuel Allan Ogot, Chris Wanjala, William Ochieng, Daniel Sifuna, Gideon Saulo Were, Ahmed Idha Salim, Judith Mbula Bahemuka, Maria Nzomo, Robert Obudho, Henry Indangasi, Mwangi wa Githumo, Henry Mutoro, Walter Ouma Oyugi, Afrifa Gitonga, Frank Oyugi, Simiyu Wandiba, A. B. C Ochola Ayayo, Mauri Yambo, Odegi Awuondo, Korwa Adar, Vincent V Simiyu, Henry Mwanzi, Milcah Achola, among others. They were the finest. They asked tough questions. The environment was fertile for mutual exchange and needed a thick skin to survive. The audience was alert and appeared to be baying for the blood of presenters, to tear papers down and dismiss the presenter. One needed to hold their ground for the entire period. It was used as a rehearsal for defence of master’s and doctoral theses. I saw young Peter Odhiambo Ndege dance and sweat on this stage and survive the onslaught successfully. After his presentation, I saw younger postgraduate students such as Osaak Olumullah, Anne Nangulu, Maurice Nakitare, Timothy Onduru, Evanson Wamagatta, Julius Simiyu Nabende and Edith Miguda watching keenly knowing they were next on the guillotine the following year.
The next time I met Prof. Peter Odhiambo Ndege was as a colleague at Moi University in 1992. I had just been hired as a member of teaching staff at the Department of Development Studies to teach common courses and he had just come back from West Virginia University with his PhD. He was still funny and making everyone laugh at the Senior Club (Moi University version of the Senior Common Room) headed by Odhiambo Nyaduwa and Martin Opondo. The Club was only patronized by members of the teaching staff and allowed freedom of expression. The table of Prof. Peter Odhiambo Ndege was always full and one laughter after another. He had stories from Makerere, University of Nairobi, and West Virginia University and from his teaching in high schools as well as stories from his Kopiyo village in Kasipul-Kabondo.
Writing about great scholars is not easy because there are so many things to write about them and one is often left wondering what to include and what to leave out. Prof. Peter Odhiambo Ndege was a gentleman in words and deeds. In 1993 at the Historical Association of Kenya meeting at Egerton University, he presented a paper that deconstructed Francis Fukuyama’s book The End of History and the Last Man. Presenters were always nervous when luminaries such as William Ochieng, B. A Ogot, Chris Wanjala, Mwangi wa Githumo, and other senior scholars were in the house, but not Peter Odhiambo Ndege. He humoured his way in this hard and current issue at the time, with ease. He responded to questions with ease and great articulation. I was with him again the following year in 1994 at the UENESCO-sponsored conference at Kericho Tea Hotel, where again he wowed us with his academic finesse and prowess. The man from Kopiyo Village in Kabondo always seemed to attract praise from William Ochieng for his presentations. He came to the rescue of junior scholars pointing out the good aspects about their presentations before moving to however, and pointed out areas of improvement. There were many words said after however, than before.
For some strange reason, Prof. William Ochieng was always soft on those who attended Alliance High School, his Alma Mater, and hard on those who came from what he regarded as small schools. He had some sympathy for alumni of Maseno School and that was all. It was like there had been no other high school in Kenya during his time but Alliance. One needed to really work hard in order to attract praise from the great scholar Prof. William Ochieng. I received such praise from him at the Kericho UNESCO conference and I was really happy to say the least.
Prof. Peter Odhiambo Ndege was always on his good side and yet Odhiambo Ndege had come from the category of the so-called small schools. He went to Ringa and Isibania Secondary schools before proceeding to Kisii High School for the East African Advanced Certificate of Education, which in the eyes of Prof. Ochieng were small schools. What earned Peter Odhiambo Ndege respect from many scholars such as Prof. William Ochieng was his focus, research skills and good writing skills which made him to publish many chapters in books edited by William Ochieng. I have counted at least 10 such chapters by Ndenge in books edited by Ochieng. Teaching in high school allowed Peter Odhiambo Ndege to horn his teaching skills. He had stories from each of those schools which included Homa–Bay High School; Cardinal Otunga, Mosocho, Kisumu Boys, and Nyakach Girls High School. I had a chance to listen to him teach at Moi University and he was clearly one of the best in his trade. It is also possible that his Postgraduate Diploma in Education from the University of Nairobi (1980-81) after his BA at Makerere may have helped in his pedagogical skills.
There have been many praises for scholars who went to university in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s as the ‘golden era’ of Kenya’s university education. There are good reasons for this because the selection process was thorough and the preparation excellent. I have a strong feeling that the University of East Africa (Makerere, Nairobi and Dar Es Salaam) was a beneficiary of pioneering and the leaders of the region, Mzee Jomo Kenyatta, Julius Nyerere and Milton Obote could not allow them to fail. Failing was not an alternative and they were given massive support to succeed. The lecturers were paid good salaries while the students were given the best education. When Peter Odhiambo Ndege graduated from Makerere University, Kampala in 1972 with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in History, he was already cream Del la crème, as part of the intelligentsia, especially after getting Second Class Honours, Upper Division, in 1975.
Getting a masters degree in four years (1984 – 1987) was not easy because majority took longer. One must congratulate Prof. Peter Odhiambo Ndege for going through the eye of the needle to make it at the University of Nairobi graduate school. The University at the time was a killer of dreams. We shall never know what caused the massive delays and drop outs but perhaps some of the reasons may revolve around monopoly, institutional culture, rigidity, supervisor conflict, problem of gate keeping, colonial training and attitude, lack of shared timeframes and guidelines as well as apathy and fatigue on the part of lecturers. Attrition was very high at the time and very few students completed their Masters and PhD degrees and Prof. Peter Odhiambo Ndege was among the few that made it. We often shared some of the comments we received from our master’s supervisors which left one wondering if such mentors could survive the current market dynamics which are learner driven and result oriented.
When you see a tree standing tall, you always know that there are people who grew it while others took care of it, saving it from many schemes of firewood and other needs. Prof. Peter Odhiambo Ndege was a beneficiary of the benevolence of Prof. Robert Maxon of West Virginia University, USA who produced over 10 doctoral products for Kenya, through fellowships. Odhiambo Ndege was one of Prof. Robert Maxon’s academic brood from Kenya, which included Priscilla Shilaro, Anne Nangulu, John Mwaruvie, Nicholas Makana, Kennedy Moindi, Timothy Onduru, among others. Peter Odhiambo Ndege pursued his doctoral studies at West Virginia University from 1990 to 1994 for the Doctor of Philosophy Degree in History. The friendship of Prof. Robert Maxon to Kenya as a scholar and son in-law having married a Kenyan lady Felicia Ethel Ayiro whom I have had a chance to meet, provided a great atmosphere and support for Kenyan students.
Moi University provided an academic home for Peter Odhiambo Ndege from 1989 to 2021 rising from Graduate Assistant to Full Professor in the Department of History. I joined him there in 1992. Moi University was populated by staff from mainly the University of Nairobi and Kenyatta University. It was not rigid in its promotion process because unlike the University of Nairobi and Kenyatta University, the Moi University system was based on the more progressive and democratic American or Canadian system which is based on open promotion on those who qualify not the rigid British system based on some absurdity called ‘establishment’ where one only moves upwards when someone dies or retires or leaves employment for some other reason for those below to move up. This saw rapid professional growth of scholars at Moi University. Some of the scholars at Moi University became full professors when their contemporaries at the University of Nairobi and Kenyatta University remained lecturers or senior lecturers due to establishment issues. Few saw the light and moved elsewhere while others remained.
To be successful, a scholar must be creative, and interested in inventing, innovating and discovering. Prof. Peter Odhiambo Ndege was very creative and would sing Luo dirges in class. In conferences, he often entertained participants in many ways including his great dancing. He had mastered a lot of Luo oral narratives such as those on Ramogi and Lwanda Magere. He was also a great story teller and would hold his audience captive and laugh last, with tears rolling out of his eyes, from his own stories, which were told well. On few occasions I accompanied him to burials in Nyanza, such as Asembo and Alego Usonga and when he took to the podium in Dholuo, he left mourners in stitches before reading his official speech in English. I often asked for translations and they were very amusing. He had mastered the art of Luo funeral orature to the point of moving crowds, while passing his condolences.
High quality research output, dissemination and publishing are some of the greatest markers of a great intellectual. Prof. Peter Odhiambo Ndege conducted a lot of research on many issues and topics, beyond his doctoral research. He participated in the biographic project on Makers of Kenya’s History, which resulted in his book on Olonana ole Mbatian [Lenana]. Many of his academic articles were on colonial agriculture in Kenya. He also wrote academic pieces on James Gichuru and Ramogi Achieng Oneko. His articles on livestock issues on northern Kenya, Kenyan economy and governance have been widely cited. He also wrote on Mau Mau and other social and political movements in Kenya. Unlike his mentors Prof. William Ochieng and Prof. Robert Maxon, he did not write so much in the popular press and we did not encounter any public tensions between him and other scholars. He was an economic, social, cultural and political historian and provided insightful views on where Kenya had come from.
Prof. Peter Odhiambo Ndege served in various capacities in University Management and Administration. After reaching the position of Dean, he appeared reluctant to go beyond to other higher levels such as DVC or VC and many believe he would have made one of the best at that level going by his performance as Dean. He was Head of Department of History for two terms from 1994 – 2003 where I taught many courses under him. I taught History of the US and History of the Black Diaspora for the department after the passing of the late Edward Onyango Odiyo, and enjoyed working with Prof. Ndege. He was elected Dean, School of Arts and Social Sciences in 2007—2009. He did not vie again when the election process became ethnic, sectional and regional, opting to serve as a regular professor in the School.
Prof. Peter Odhiambo Ndege was angry with the assertions of Hugh Trevor-Roper who alleged in the 1940s that before Europeans arrived in Africa, the continent had no history but darkness, arguing that ‘darkness’ was not part of history. He spent many of his years in this world, disapproving Trevor-Roper and his racist assertions. At our last joint engagement activity at IFRA and British Institute in East Africa, Prof. Odhiambo Ndege reminded me and Prof. Mildred Ndeda of the promise we made to Prof. William Ochieng in 1998 to write new books on the history of Kenya and history of Africa away from the imperial versions. Prof. Peter Odhiambo Ndege has mentored thousands of scholars. He has provided leadership and written many books and articles and has therefore left behind a very rich legacy which we will always emulate. Oriti Professor!
Prof. Maurice N. Amutabi is a Full Professor and Director of the Centre for Science and Technology Studies (CSTS) at the Technical University of Kenya. Email: Amu...@gmail.com
Prof. Maurice N. Amutabi,
The Technical University of Kenya
Tel: +254-(0)700-744545
Oluwatoyin Adepoju
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Ibukunolu A Babajide
AN ENGLISH NURSERY RHYME
The law locks up the man or woman
Who steals the goose from off the common
But leaves the greater villain loose
Who steals the common from off the goose
The law demands that we atone
When we take things that we do not own
But leaves the lords and ladies fine
Who take things that are yours and mine
The poor and wretched don’t escape
If they conspire the law to break
This must be so but they endure
Those who conspire to make the law
The law locks up the man or woman
Who steals the goose from off the common
And geese will still a common lack
Till they go and steal it back
- Anonymous (circa 1764)
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