At the funeral of Dalmas Otieno, one of Kenya’s longest-serving Cabinet ministers, mourners expected tears and solemnity. Instead, they got moments of laughter.
His widow, Patricia Atieno, chose candour over grief. Speaking at the service on Tuesday, she recalled her husband’s charm — and the complications it brought into their marriage.
“I married Dalmas, a very handsome man, who gave me problems with women,” she told the crowd, prompting ripples of laughter. “He was so handsome that no woman could pass without turning her head to look at him. But I played it cool because I am a born-again Christian.”
Patricia first met Dalmas in the 1960s at Rapogi Secondary School, where both were student leaders. She described him as confident, determined, and already sure she would one day become his wife.
“He instructed two ladies from his place to watch me closely so I wouldn’t talk to any man,” she said. “We loved each other. I married Dalmas in 1965, and we built a life together.”
Her tribute, by turns humorous and tender, painted a portrait of a man who was as much a family figure as he was a political one.
In one of the service’s most surprising revelations, Patricia spoke of sharing her home with Dalmas’ third wife, Dorothy, for more than a decade.
“I have been living with Dorothy ever since she got married to my husband — for 14 years under one roof,” she said. “I gave them a room. Until she had her twins, she did not move out; she is still living with me.”
Her pragmatic explanation drew murmurs across the congregation. “I did not want him to park his car in Rongo, where Dorothy had rented a house, so I told my husband to bring that woman home. I had a big house,” she said, her voice steady.
The unusual arrangement, she explained, was her way of keeping family matters under one roof rather than letting them fracture the household.
Dalmas Otieno, who died last week, was remembered by colleagues as a seasoned politician and public servant. But his widow’s eulogy reminded mourners of the private man behind the public figure — charismatic, complicated, and deeply human.
As the casket lay before them, Patricia’s words shifted the mood. The story she told was not of a flawless leader, but of a husband whose life left both challenges and cherished memories.
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