Kenya should honour Vohra family for service

JS Vohra who died in a road crash in November 2017. Four of his family members perished in a road crash on October 21, 2018. FILE PHOTO | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • .I cannot imagine any nightmare worse than losing four family members at one time.
  • Astonishingly, another Vohra, Sandy, died in a road crash in Ethiopia in 2006.

I am still reeling from the cruel hand of fate that robbed one of the most amazing Kenyan families of four of its members in a road accident last week.

Astonishingly, on the same road and after a visit to the same Vohra philanthropic enterprise in Makindu, J.S. Vohra, Sarova Hotel’s Managing Director, was killed in a car accident 10 months ago. Astonishingly, another Vohra, Sandy, died in a road crash in Ethiopia in 2006.

Every Vohra I knew carried the gospel of service close to their hearts. It was that commitment to philanthropy and service that took Mohinder and Swarna Kaur Vohra, both 82, and their three children to Makueni’s Makindu Hope Academy last weekend.

They served meals to children as part of their three-day “pilgrimage” in Makindu, where our Sikhs have a Langar where cooked food is available free every day and night.

SUPPORT CHILDREN

During the visit, the Vohras pledged to support six children who perform well in the KCPE exam, in addition to those they are already sponsoring.

I know no family anywhere where virtually every member was fully committed to easing the deprivations that afflict their society’s less fortunate.

I knew Sandy’s father Channi the best, and there are not many better people in the corporate world anywhere.

He was utterly idealistic, constantly trying to figure out the complexities of the Kenyan reality in order to seek ways for our people to do better, apart from giving generously and innovatively to the needy.

He was also deeply spiritual, and always thoughtful, including about the central role of the media, and trying to push it to be more progressive.

PROMISING JOURNALISTS

In 2005, after I returned home after my retirement from the UN, he asked me to offer some thoughts to a group of promising journalists over lunch. But to ensure the journalist’s attendance, he had also invited Mr Charles Njonjo — Channi was clever!

I was actually surprised to see Mr Njonjo there, us having been on utterly opposite sides of the fence in the period up to my fleeing Kenya ahead of the police just before the attempted 1982 coup.

He, of course, was the architect of the post-independent Kenya state which I abhorred. But my second surprise of the lunch was Mr Njonjo’s cordiality!

Among other things in our conversation, he urged me to support Raila Odinga. He had had a profound transformation in his political orientation, and it gradually turned out to be one of my most important and fruitful friendships in Kenya, thanks to Channi having thought of inviting Mr Njonjo, no doubt in part to get us together.

A THINKER

But that lunch also led to my discovering who Channi really was beyond his running Sarova Hotels. So, when I invited a few thoughtful Kenyans from the civil society and academic worlds to discuss ways Kenya could fulfil its already struggling post-2002 democratic promise, Channi was the only businessman among them, because I thought of him primarily as a thinker, although, of course, he relied on his superb business acumen to further his philanthropic endeavours.

I wanted to bring myself up to date with the currents of change in the country, but more important, I wanted the then British High Commissioner Sir Edward Clay to hear from forward looking, independent-minded Kenyans.

LOSING FAMILY MEMBERS

I do not think Sir Edward would have come for the tea if I had been affiliated to Raila/ODM then.

My heart goes out to the surviving Vohras. I cannot imagine any nightmare worse than losing four family members at one time. And equally chilling is the fact that six of the last seven deaths of Channi’s family occurred in road accidents.

May God give the Vohras strength to cope with this, but they should also draw strength from their amazing family history — and continue that tradition of service. In the meantime, I hope someone in the Kenyan hierarchy of influence will try to get formal recognition for the family’s history of great deeds and exceptional giving to their country.

Mr Lone is a veteran journalist.