"After my O-Levels, I could not proceed to A-Levels because my father had no money to pay my fees. Even then all hope was not lost because I soon got a teaching job at Ndwiga Secondary School in Siaya. Mark the words "secondary school". I was very good in Swahili and my vast knowledge in the language made me competent enough to teach it at secondary school level without having to undergo any training as a teacher," JOS narrates. "From the salary I got as a teacher, I was able to save some money which I use to enroll as private student for my A-Levels," he added.
He however did not get in to football commentary by accident. Kaka Jos always had passion for the sport and he even played it at some point in his 49 years on earth. Even though stomach ulcers forced him out of the game when he was a budding player at Homa Bay's Bonde FC, it impacted little on his passion and love for the sport. He may have joined Bonde FC following an invitation from a friend who believed in his football talent, his entry in to football commentary and reporting on other sports disciplines did not need any scouting or invitation.
It must be said that Kaka JOS' mastery of the Swahili language as well as training as journalist at the Nyegezi School of Journalism in Tanzania played a huge role in him getting behind the microphone to narrate sequences of play on the football pitch to enthusiastic listeners.
"While working as a teacher at Kuoyo Kochia in Homa Bay, I used to send reports on sporting activities taking place there to KBC. I was one of their many sports correspondents based in up-country towns and my big break came in 1987 when Kenya was hosting the All African Games. There were so many sports disciplines to be covered and so as to do that efficiently, KBC called over some of the up-country sports correspondents to assist in reporting on the games going on. After the games I went back to Homa Bay and continued serving as a correspondent. However in 1992, I got a call from KBC and they told me that they had a job for me as a commentator," JOS reveals about how he got in to commentary.
His proficiency in Swahili may lead many to thinks that he is competent with everything to do with language but JOS does not see it that way. Throughout his life he has never written a letter to apply for job because he really does not know how to write one despite his excellent writing skills. All the jobs he has held throughout his life were due to his employers seeing that he was good at what he did and he therefore never had to apply for a job.
I have never written a letter to apply for a job because I do not know how to do so. I believe that if you are good, you are good and there is no need for you to write a letter to get a job when the employer already sees that you are capable of doing the job.
Writing a job application may be a challenge to him but there is no doubt that learning and understanding English remains the biggest challenge he has encountered in his whole life. With a name like Jack Oyoo Sylevester one would be led to think that the language has been a part of him since birth but actually that is not the case. For a long time in his early years, the only time Kaka JOS had to speak English was when he was saying his name: [Jack] Oyoo [Sylvester].
Kaka Jos was born in Dar-es-Salaam Tanzania and perhaps that explains why he is so good in Swahili that while at school he used to correct his teachers and even aid them in teaching of the language to fellow students.
While at school when students had a problem with the language (Swahili) and the teacher could not help them, the teacher would refer the student to me and whatever I advised was believed to be correct.
It is not surprising that it was a different ball game when it came to English for Kaka JOS. He spent the first fifteen years of his life in Tanzania and therefore his exposure to the English language was next to nil. It was only when his family moved to Kenya after his father resigned from his position as a wildlife officer in Tanzania's Manyara District that he started encountering the language on regular basis.
"It was not easy adapting to English," he says of his first proper encounter with the language. "While in Tanzania, I had reached Form Two in my studies but when I came to Kenya I had to go back to class Seven because my English was not good enough. That meant I had to rewind my studies by three years just to learn and understand English. Luckily I was still a young boy and therefore even though I repeated those classes, I remained at par with my agemates."
"The good thing with repeating class Seven was that I had already learned most of what was being taught other than English of course. Becuase of that, I had it easy and passed my final year exams in Primary School and then joined Cardinal Otunga High School in Mosocho, Kisii. Cardinal Otunga was a top school and only selected students who were number one in their areas."
Despite being number one in my area, I got a rude shock when results for my first exams at Cardinal Otunga were released. I was number 25 out of 42. I just could not believe it. I cried for days. Had I scored 80% and not 99% in Swahili, I would have been number 39 or something. Turns out that I was not the best of the number ones after all.
It was not the only time in his life that JOS had cried because something went wrong at school. The first time he went to school he was denied admission because he could not touch either of his ears with his hand going over his head. His brother though did not have a problem with that and was allowed in to the school. JOS did not feel great about going back home while his brother remained at school. He cried and threw a tantrum till a teacher at the school pleaded his case for him and he was admitted.
For all the challenges and difficulties he encountered learning English, JOS never imagined he would become so good in English that others would be jealous of him to a point of bullying him (somehow).
"At Cardinal Otunga, I knew I had a problem with English and I therefore kept the company of a white boy named James who helped me improve in the language. I became so good that I was even speaking with an accent. This must have made other boys feel jealous and one day when I went to sleep, I found my bed was completely wet. Someone had poured water on it. Later I was told that it was because I had started bragging that I could speak English with a Black American accent and also because I had started shunning my classmates since I was spending a lot of time with A-Level students. It was just crazy and ridiculous."
Others may have had a problem appreciating his efforts but JOS has always appreciated good talent when he sees it. People who inspired him to be who he is today include pioneer broadcasters like Stephen Kikumu and Charles Hillary (Tanzania). JOS also takes credit in nurturing some talents most notable being Michael Were Mukhisia, a SuperSport Swahili football commentator who emerged winner in the 2012 Bonga Boli competition.
Other than commentating, JOS is also exploring other talents and so far he has authored two books; Fahari ya Mateso and Ziara ya Nyumbani and he is working on publishing other two books. Though he has not started work on it, JOS also plans to do an autobiography. His books can be found at the University of Nairobi bookshop and he adds that they are being used for study by Master's students at the institution. He wishes his books could be widely distributed but the demands booksellers make to have his books on their shelves have made that impossible as of now.
"Bookshop owners make exploitative demands. If I want to sell a book at 360 shillings, they would want to take 180 shillings from every sale. The 180 shillings that I get to keep is not enough to cover for publishing costs as well as make a profit."
His advice to those wishing to master the Swahili language as well as him is simple and combines his two passions.
"The key to mastering Swahili is knowing and understanding noun classes (ngeli). There are just 14 of them and if you have the ability to know the members of the squads of football teams like Gor Mahia, AFC Leopards and Manchester United, then knowing the fourteen noun classes of the Swahili language should not be a challenge."
Jack Oyoo Sylvester was speaking to Gidi (Joseph Ogidi) and Ghost (Jacob Mulee) in the Radio Jambo Breakfast Show, #GidiNaGhostAsubuhi during the #Waliobobea (Legends) segment that airs on the show every Friday. Additional information was courtesy of an interview with radiojambo.co.ke after his talk with Gidi and Ghost ended.
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