Former TV and radio show host Sheila Mwanyigha celebrated her Mashujaa holiday probably different from other citizens in what she termed as possibly the hardest week of the year for her family.
Evidently, it is the week her father breathed his last years back at a time when she spent the last moments with him.
"I never said goodbye not at that moment, not even as I left him for home after that hospital visit. We’d had the most wonderful conversation we had ever had and he was going to pull through. The thing is I never will say goodbye. Nope, not ever," she wrote on her social media platforms.
The former TV host then went ahead and celebrated her late father and mother during the Mashujaa Day regarding her father as her hero for the man he was during his police officer service days.
"In fact, Mashujaa Day will be my day of remembrance of my father and hero, Gideon Victor Mwanyigha. Together with my mum Agnes Wanjiru, they served as officers in the Kenya Police Band," she wrote.
Sheila recalls how her father helped her grandfather who served as a medic, how he chipped in and took over from his mother when she died, and how he helped his siblings by raising them up in the absence of their mother.
She also recognised her father as a man who played a vital role in the Police band saying he was a genius who could play almost every instrument, especially the guitar which she said opened doors for him.
"Growing up in the hills of Taita, from a humble background, dad watched his father go off to Burma with the Kings African Rifles as a medic, in a war many never understood. He had to step in and raise his siblings when his own mother died. A musical genius who could play most instruments but especially the guitar, dad’s talent opened doors for him at work in the Police Band, and also in the world where actual musicians created catchy jingles," she added.
As fate would be, the musical talent is evident even now as Mwanyigha and her brother inherited the talent from the father as both are musicians.
"There was always music in the house, and this gift lives on in my brother Mark and I. Music will always be home for us," she says.
According to Mwanyigha, her father grew through the ranks in the police service because of the talent he had during his time as a policeman saying no note would go wrong in his presence and that he reached a fete many policemen rarely reach.
"Music saw my father rise up the police force to become the Director of Music of the Kenya Police Band. With him conducting the band there was never a flat note. Oh no, not with Dad! He was also an Assistant Commissioner of Police and received recognition for his work, including a Head of State Commendation, an honor that not many police officers- or even civilians are accorded," she added.
And to pen off, she said she celebrates her father by putting on his service medals in celebration of an officer and a true gentleman adding that her parents who served in the police service presents represent many honest police servants who genuinely serve citizens.
"Dad, you and mum are my Shujaas. You represent so many honest police officers who have served and who are serving Kenya with all that they have and all that they are," she ended her message.
Sheila Mwanyigha has had a great career as a radio, and television host, songwriter, and singer. She studied at the University of Nairobi where she pursued a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and German followed by a Master’s in Sociology (Medical Psychology).