Popular Comedian Jalang'o, speaking to The Star on September 5, humorously intimated that was still 'waiting to die' months after he aroused the wrath of Luo elders over his controversial decision to build and gift his mother a new house.
According to Luo traditions, it is said to be a taboo for sons to repair or even rebuild their mothers' houses after their fathers have died.
Jalang'o's mother, culture dictates, needed to be remarried after the death of her husband, and her son wasn't allowed to build her a house.
Jalang'o told The Star that he had no time to listen to people who come to see him over traditions that are retrogressive and make no sense to him.
"I do not have time for them (the elders). I only listen to elders who instill wisdom in me, not people who come to talk to me about traditions that do not even make sense."
Jalang'o has on numerous occasions publicly expressed his love for his mother whom he says he owes everything. He stated that he was 'ready to die' due to his defiance of cultural norms.
“They said, as the firstborn son, If I build the house, an older man has to step in as my stepdad to give my mum permission and traditionally take her to the new house so that it is not cursed,” Jalango explained.
Jalang'o reportedly lost his father just a few hours after landing his first job as a presenter on Kiss 100. He claims that he never went for the burial because he could not afford it.
The call, he opened up to Mwakideu in April 2019, came immediately after a call from an executive at Kiss FM telling him that he was replacing Nyambane, who had gone to seek greener pastures.
His is a story of rising from grass to grace. He has been involved in several projects aimed at uplifting the lives of those he started with.
He has also never shied away from sharing some of his achievements on social media to reflect where he has come from and where he is headed.
