Fallen actor Olwenya Maina’s cause of death established
Fallen actor Olwenya Maina succumbed to a medical condition referred to as Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM).
The Kenyan media personality is best known for his role in the Nairobi Half-Life film.
The autopsy report released by his family indicates the celebrated actor, collapsed and died while being rushed to hospital, had hypertrophic heart disease as a result of abnormal thickening of the heart muscle.
The ailment makes it harder for the heart to pump blood to the rest of the body.
Although most people remember him from Nairobi Half-Life as Oti, Maina had an impressive experience in film, television, and radio.
Maina did one episode on the KBC TV show Plot 10, before joining Sisimka Productions, where he acted in Wash and Set. On the show Guy Center, he played Alex Maranga, a producer.
In October 2009, he joined Heartstrings Kenya as part of the creative team for the Churchill Show.
He did two episodes in the show Changes and played Uncle Joe in Shuga 2 and the villainous Kaka in Mali.
In the upcoming Netflix series, Country Queen, Maina plays a journalist and interacts a lot with the character on Nini Wacera on the show.
In the series, he reunited with fellow actors Nini Wacera and Shix Kapienga who appeared alongside Maina in Nairobi Half Life.
This week, some Nairobi Half Life cast took to social media to ask for financial support from Kenyans in a bid to give the thespian a befitting send-off.
“We, the cast of Nairobi Half-Life, come to our fans with heavy hearts to inform you of the demise of Wilfred Olwenya Maina known as Oti in the beloved film due to a heart condition known as Hypertonic Cardiomyopathy. Our appeal to you is to help us as friends and family to give Olwenya a great send-off,” said Jacky Vike on Instagram.
Born and raised in Kangemi, Nairobi, he attended Kangemi Primary School and Murang’a High School before returning to a high school in Nairobi for family reasons.
He enjoyed working with children and used to teach theatre in churches and schools, among them PCEA Bahati, St Francis Girls Mangu, and Buru Buru Girls.
He was also a voice-over actor at Radio Jambo and was the voice behind a number of their promos.
In an earlier interview with Nation, Maina said that art, and specifically, acting in Kenya is productive.
“The problem is that people in Kenya equate acting success with money, which should not be the case. Artists should earn enough to be comfortable, but satisfaction in your work is what counts the most.”