On 6th of January this year (2025), my friend Akech Oyosi passed on, and we buried him on 6th February 2025, making the end of our Happy Wednesdays for ever! Last year in October, just before his 86th birthday (20th October), Akech became totally blind, victim of cataract. We managed to assist him through the necessary eye operation, and he could see well once more. Thereafter, he insisted that he stays with me for 3 days, to ensure that his post-operative treatment regime was adhered to strictly. I gladly acceded. When he left, he sincerely expressed his gratitude, but told me: "Wuod Ochola, Nyasaye ohera ndi! Pare ni mbesena tee mane wagoyogo thum onge kata achiel mapod ngima. Anto pod an tie! Omera, an koro kata atho, kik ibi elienda ni idwa ywaga! Iyuago ang'o! Gima mora ni ka atho, to abiro tho ka aneno!" Loosely translated: "Son of Ochola, God loves me very much. Imagine all my cohorts we started playing music with are all dead, except I. So, my friend, if I die, please don't come mourning to my funeral! Why would you mourn? What pleases me most now is that I'll die with my vision intact!" That was the last time I saw my friend alive. Circumstances conspired such that when my friend died, I wasn't even in the country, and I only came back in time to bury him! I stoically tried not to shed a tear, but just after interring him, a torrent of tears escaped from "I don't know where", but only briefly so! I resorted to our common denominator, the guitar, and one new tune and an older one were the only things I could coherently play (and find peace therein), as the sun settled on my friend's grave! Fare thee well, my friend, as I struggle to obey your last instruction, "To mourn you joyfully"! It's hard, but I'll try my best, my friend, Samuel Akech Oyosi wuo'Jabuya, wuod Omolo g' Okombe, Owad g' Adhiambo, the Mother of Benga! Pass greetings to John Ogara Odondi Kaisa and Nelson Ochieng Orwa (original Ochieng Nelly) of Ogara Boys Band! May your Benga Spirit not rest! Benga Yoro!Benga Mwomo!