A family in Chavakali is mourning the death of 13-year-old Jacob Nestor Kavai, a boy who stole the show during an Azimio la Umoja rally held in Vihiga in February 2022.
Kavai went viral after bracing a huge crowd and addressing politicians and supporters of the political coalition.
In the viral video, the teen first struck a rapport with Murang’a Woman Rep Sabina Chege who went ahead to give the mic to address the crowd.
Sadly, Kavai was confirmed dead on March 21, 2023, after ailing from acute pneumonia.
The teen’s uncle, John kavai, told Citizen Digital that the boy had been hospitalised for two months, but sadly lost the fight.
“It is true he died at just 13 of pneumonia. We are mourning as a family and anyone can support us. He has been sick for around two months and he passed on while receiving medication in the hospital,” he said.
Before falling sick, Kavai would walk around Chavakali, Mbale or Kisumu towns, and did not attend school. In these towns, he was famously known for entertaining the locals who gathered around him as he preached and prayed for them. Whatever little he got from the crowd, he took home to his ailing father.
“He loved preaching from a very young age, he always wanted to be a pastor, he always brought home what he received from well-wishers. He always spared the best for his grandmother and father,” his uncle recalls.
John Kavai notes that, although they did not approve of his endeavours, young Kavai always found a way of leaving the house to go to the market place.
