Nairobi News

Vioja Mahakamani actress Lucy Wangui, who is renowned for her role as the no nonsense judge in the popular TV courtroom drama, has revealed how the late Gibson Gathu Mbugua panicked when he was diagnosed with diabetes more than 20 years ago.

Speaking during Mr Mbugua’s funeral ceremony on Tuesday in Matundura, Nyandarua County, Ms Wangui narrated how news of the diagnosis left the deceased actor shaken and confused.

“He was first given the report on his health when we were in Nyeri and it really worried him. He was left speechless and confused. He kept asking where we should go; to the chemist or to the hospital. But I told him not to panic because his ailment was not a killer disease that had condemned him to death,” Ms Wangui recalled.

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“We went somewhere where he was given medicine and told if he manages it, he would live long, and truly he managed it for more than 30 years. He was disciplined and respectful. Even if he wronged someone, it wouldn’t reach the evening before he had called you to apologise,” she further recounted.

The veteran actress also spoke about the close relationship that fellow actress Mama Kayai and their deceased colleague had for many years.

“He (Mbugua), Mama Kayai and I were always together and everyone would attest to this. Mama Kayai and I were one of the best maids on their wedding day… I’ve known him (Gibson) since his days as a young man, until he got married, got children and grandchildren. I’m thankful to God for all the years I was able to spend time with him… There was no secret I had that Gib did not know,” she recounted.

Also read: Lovely family photos of departed Vioja Mahakamani actor Gibson Mbugua

The actress also spoke about how devastated she is by Mbugua’s passing on.

“The emptiness that Gibson has left behind, I don’t think anyone can fill it. We were used to each other and in ‘court’ when something went wrong; he quickly corrected it in such a way that even our audiences wouldn’t have noticed. I have been left in a bad place but God knows why He took him. For those of us left behind, we pray God to stand with us because Gib has really suffered with this illness,” Ms Wangui said.

The late actor died on December 22, 2022, after being comatose in the intensive care unit for three months. He passed on after suffering a cardiac arrest after battling diabetes and kidney failure for years.

Also read: Late Vioja Mahakamani actor’s brother recounts their last conversation