Ailing Vioja 'prosecutor' discusses life ahead of fundraiser
The prosecutor (left) in an undated picture. He is also seen with fellow TV comedians Ondieki Nyuka Kwota and Mama Kayai.
The man who played prosecutor on the long-running TV comedy programme Vioja Mahakamani wants Kenyans to help him stay on his feet in a medical fundraiser that will happen in Nairobi today.
Gibson Gathu Mbugua, whose roles on the programme helped deliver punchlines and bring the best out of comedians, is scheduled for a kidney transplant early next month.
He spoke with the Nation that after undergoing tests at a branch of the Mediheal Group of Hospitals.
It is at a Mediheal facility in Eldoret that he will get the transplant, which he said is slated for the first week of July.
He noted that the donor is a relative, though he opted to keep their identity secret. The transplant, he noted, should enable him to continue acting — what he has been doing all his adult life.
“Dialysis is expensive. Your insurance cover gets exhausted and you start spending off your pocket. You know, insurance is limited. Every day you visit, the dialysis is from Sh10,000 and you have to go three times a week,” he said.
“And they don’t pay for the third. So that has forced me to dig into my pockets and that has drained family finances. So, I saw that if I get a transplant, my life will get back to normal and I will do my work.”
Through acting, he said, he and his wife have been able to raise their three daughters and a son. He was married in 1991 and solemnised the union in 1994.
Raised all my children
“Acting has fed me. I’ve raised all my children and educated them. Thank God all have degrees. Only one doesn’t have a master’s. All my three girls have an MBA (master of business administration). Now the boy is in university doing the same. And it’s all from the acting money,” Gibson said.
Now in his sixties, the actor lives in Mihang’o, Nairobi County.
He aims to raise Sh6 million through the fundraiser, and he says this money will mostly be for post-surgery care.
“Actually, the cost of surgery is not that expensive. What is expensive is the post-surgery care because those drugs are very expensive,” he said.
“The anti-rejection drugs are very expensive, and there is no use having a transplant while I can’t get the drugs, which I’ll consume for the rest of my life. That’s why we need Sh6 million for the post-care.”
His appeal for funds has been circulating on various platforms for the past few months and he says he has been receiving donations from all over the country.
“Kenyans have been with me and I ask them to continue standing by me,” he said. “I’ve got money from Turkana, Kilifi … everywhere in Kenya.
I just request them that (today), on the day of the harambee, may they please contribute.”
Gibson’s roles brought out a number of stars in the acting field. He told the Saturday Nation that he has also encountered at least one prosecutor who said he was inspired to take up the job after seeing him act on TV.
“Because we work a lot with the ODPP (Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions), there is a young man there who is a public prosecutor who told me that he wanted to become a prosecutor because of me,” he said.
Not doing something stupid
“It makes you realise that you’re not doing something stupid. You go to a foreign country and you’re given respect when they know who you are.”
He was part of the “old guard” of the Vioja cast that was pushed aside some years back to usher in a newer generation of actors. The new cast produced a number of episodes but the show gradually fizzled out, not long after the man who played the judge on the new show – Jamal Nassul Gaddafi – was stabbed to death in Kitengela in 2018.
Having battled diabetes for some time and with his kidney failure that happened in 2020, one would have expected Gibson to slow down, but the actor said he is still active and in the game.
“Bado na act. I’m on, sijalemewa. Ninajikazakaza tu naendelea (I’m still acting; I haven’t been overwhelmed. I force myself and I go on),” he said.
Besides Vioja Mahakamani, he has had roles in shows like Varshita!, Jungu Kuu, Kivunja Mbavu, Mchezo wa Hadithi.
“You know, in art, you earn for work done. If you haven’t done anything, you won’t be paid. So, you must try hard and do something,” said Gibson.
The fundraiser will happen in Charter Hall, which is part of the Nairobi County buildings on Muindi Mbingu Street, from 2pm to 7pm.
Those wishing to contribute via M-Pesa can donate using PayBill number 247247 and account number 777626, with the account name Gibson Gathu Mbugua.
The actor said well-wishers can also send M-Pesa contributions directly to his number, 0722777626 (Gibson Mbugua).
“I’m asking Kenyans to show up so that I can do the transplant and be back on my feet,” he pleaded.
