Comedian Eric Omondi has spoken out to clarify why he set up a new paybill account for the family of Albert Ojwang’.
Speaking during an interview on Nation FM, Omondi said that after he shared Ojwang’s story with the public, Kenyans responded overwhelmingly with financial support. However, the phone numbers belonging to Ojwang’s wife and parents quickly reached their M-Pesa transaction limits, blocking any further contributions.
“Of all the cases I have done, this is the one that shocked me,” Omondi said. “Six minutes after I posted, the phone could not receive any more money. It was full. I gave the wife’s number, it got full, the mother’s was the same.”
To keep the contributions flowing and ensure transparency, Omondi helped the family open a new paybill account. The signatories on the account include Ojwang’s mother, his wife, and an uncle since the father does not have a national ID.
“We go to Upperhill, open a paybill with three signatories, the mother, the wife and the uncle, because the father didn’t have an ID, then I give Kenyans,” Omondi shared. “We raised a lot of money, I still want to balance the books with the family, but I know how much it is.”
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Omondi emphasized that his Sisi kwa Sisi initiative operates on a strict principle: every shilling donated must go directly to the victim or their immediate family.
“There was another paybill number,” he said. “The issue with that is it did not have an immediate family member, and to protect Sisi kwa Sisi, our principle is that the money through us must go directly to the family, Meshack or the mother.”
Although some people urged him to use the existing paybill instead of personal mobile numbers, Omondi decided to investigate first. He spent the entire day conducting due diligence and discovered that none of Ojwang’s immediate family members were linked to that account.
“When I was approached, I did due diligence to know whose it was. It took us the whole day. The way paybill works, people send to their holding account linked, and there was no family member,” he explained.
“I told them I respect the committee and how you do things, you have to respect how I do things for the future. One day I will be asked to account.”
His decision to reject the alternative paybill sparked criticism from a section of Kenyans online, with some accusing him of trying to defraud the family.
Omondi, however, dismissed those claims, saying he remains committed to transparency and is constantly learning from each experience.
