The song begins with a gentle pattern on the strings of a lyre and a soft voice singing in Dholuo. It is called Kothbiro, meaning “rain is coming,” and it sounds like it was made for a quiet afternoon. In 2005, it reached millions of viewers when it was used in the film The Constant Gardener. The man who wrote and sang it was Ayub Ogada, a Kenyan musician who spent much of his life taking the nyatiti, a traditional Luo instrument, to audiences around the world.
Early life and the nyatiti
Ayub Ogada was born in Kenya and grew up around music, spending part of his childhood abroad. Back in Kenya, he developed a deep interest in traditional Luo music and the instruments that carried it. The nyatiti is an eight-string lyre played by the Luo people of western Kenya. Traditionally, players use the instrument to accompany songs about history, praise and daily life. The player often wears a toe ring that strikes the frame for rhythm.
Real World and Kothbiro
Ogada also worked as an actor, and his experience of performance shaped the way he held an audience in concert, often alone on stage with only his instrument.
In 1993, he released En Mana Kuoyo on Real World Records, the label founded by Peter Gabriel. The album introduced his music to international listeners. He performed at WOMAD festivals and other world music events, often playing solo with just his voice and the nyatiti. The song Kothbiro became his best-known work. Its use in The Constant Gardener, set in Kenya, brought it to a global audience.
Collaborations, home and death
He worked with other musicians, including collaborations with musicians from Europe and Africa that blended the nyatiti with other instruments. In his later years, he returned to Kenya, where he continued to perform and teach. Ayub Ogada died in 2019. Tributes praised his gentle voice and his role in bringing the nyatiti to the world stage.
Ogada’s music was quiet and intimate, built on repeating patterns on the strings and a soft, clear voice. Listeners often described his concerts as calming, a contrast to the louder sounds of many festival stages. Kothbiro means “rain is coming.” Listeners who have never been to Kenya still say the song sounds exactly like that.
