To many, the name Wilson Onzere Ongaro doesn’t ring a bell, but for a certain generation, Sukuma Bin Ongaro is a legend.
What many might not know is that the Benga star, now 77, switched to gospel four years ago. But he isn’t averse to performing in secular shows.
“As a renowned musician who’s still active, I’m still open for gospel and secular performances when booked in good time. I cannot fail to give my fans what they demand and deserve when called upon to do so,” he told The Sunday Standard.
He says switching to gospel changed him into a good man.
“In the past, we were drinking heavily when on and after duty while consuming the proceeds of our hard-earned money and what should be taken home to our families,” he says.
His first secular function after his salvation was at the homecoming party of Cabinet Secretary for Cooperatives and Microfinance Wycliffe Oparanya last month (August 2024), attended by President William Ruto.
“While there, I did my best to give visitors what they expected. That included the Head of State who joined us in shaking our legs,” said the 77-year-old musician who says music is in his DNA.
He says he’s well known to Oparanya for many years and even participated in his political campaigns before he was elected as the Member of Parliament for Butere in 2002.
Where did the name Sukuma come from?
Ongaro acquired the stage name ‘Sukuma’ due to his push for music as a solo guitarist.
“I realised I loved music and therefore I picked the name Sukuma because I was a solo guitarist who had a faster push for this. Nilikuwa nasukumana na solo guitar (I was pushing hard with solo guitar),” he says.
He admits to having wasted lots of resources on people he thought were true friends at the peak of his career.
“I used lots of money buying drinks for them during my shows. It’s fame that drove me towards this, which was not beneficial to my family,” he says.
“Kumbe hawa hawakuwa marafiki wa dhati. Walikuwa ni wale kupe wanaozoea kunyonya watu kisha wakutoroke. Usipojihadhari wanakufilisisha (They were not true friends but like ticks who are used to fleece and then disappear in the thin air),” he says.
Ongaro says most musicians globally fall prey to the same problem but only discover it when it’s too late.
“But when I got saved was the best moment in my life as knowing the Word of God is the beginning of Wisdom,” he says.
After crossing over to be a gospel singer, veteran musician Sukuma Bin Ongaro is not ready to stop performing in secular functions if called upon to do so.
And Ongaro is ready to entertain all and sundry in any location in the country and at any time when needed.
And the invitation must be booked in advance with enough notice for him to offer some good entertainment.
Having switched his concentration to gospel singing four years ago, Ongaro had changed his lifestyle.
The musician cannot remember all his recorded songs but says most of them are on YouTube.
“Every year, I used to record at least seven songs and that was done thrice annually in modern studios,” he says.
“Most of my music featured in the then Voice of Kenya radio (now Kenya Broadcasting Corporation) and then played on turn tables,” said the leader of Suku Jazz Band.
His best song, Ndatsia Mombasa, which sold him to the world arose from a trip to Mombasa City where he was invited to perform at a prominent hotel.
The song tells how he was neglected and stayed hungry after an overnight and tiresome performance at the hotel.
“That was a sweet song that has always been in high demand wherever I perform,” he says.
Ongaro is not well-versed with particular dates of his events, maybe due to his advancing age.
For now, his eldest son, Ongaro Junior has taken over the reins of Suku Jazz Band.
“My eldest son took over my band to keep on my legacy as I concentrate on gospel singing,” said Ongaro who started the career at 17.
He started with a box guitar and recorded two songs before practising to play rhythm and bass guitars.
“I was forced to learn how to play the two - rhythm and bass guitar besides the solo. But to excel in my professional work, I had to employ the services of rhythm and bass guitarists,” he says.
He lost his father at a young age.
“It happened at a tender age making me not understand the gravity of losing a parent till when I was a grown-up. I must admit Almighty,” says the musician whose first song was recorded in 1962.
Ongaro composed a song in honour of his departed father titled ‘Wacha Tumlie Papa Ongaro’.
“When my father died, I saw people crying and dancing and I just joined them in the jig not knowing the gravity of those celebrations,” he says.
After the release of his first song in 1962, he did another one to celebrate Kenya’s Independence a year later.
“We had to do it owing to the joy Kenyans had by then and the popularity of Kenya’s first President – Mzee Jomo Kenyatta by then,” he says.
“Mzee alikuwa Taa ya Kenya na ilikuwa lazima tumuimbie na kumsifu kidogo wakati huo (Mzee Kenyatta was the pride of Kenya and we had to sing and praise in equal measure at the time)”, he says.
He has recorded seven gospel songs, among them: ‘Ongaro Amepata Yesu’, ‘Mapasta’ and ‘Sikujua Nitaokoka’..
Sukuma Bin Ongaro has two wives and 13 surviving children after the death of 20 whom he could not explain how they died.
“I have a big family but the biggest loss was when 20 of my children died. I cannot explain further than that,” he said.
The family stays in Ebukambili Emutetemo Area in Emuluanda Sub Location in Khwisero Constituency in Kakamega County.
“I’m a powerful man who believes in traditional ways of life just as our forefathers,” he says.
He says music piracy is taking a toll on them and that he has never received any payment from the Music Copyrights Society of Kenya.
“Most of the government officials don’t remit our royalties to us. We also wonder who pockets our money running into thousands of shillings,” says Ongaro.