Gospel singer Daddy Owen has shared how he lost vision in one eye after a brutal mob beating in Nairobi after a theft accusation.
Before he became famous and Charlene Ruto met his parents, Daddy Owen, real name Owen Mwatia, lived a criminal life.
He had just moved to Nairobi from the village, excited to chase a better future. But things took a wrong turn. He fell in with the wrong crowd and started stealing. What began as mischief among friends quickly became a habit.
“This was not even my first beating,” he said.
“I had been beaten before. But this one changed everything.”
How Daddy Owen Lost one Eye
It happened one day while he and his friends were in a matatu headed to Impala Grounds along Ngong Road. During the ride, someone shouted that he had stolen something. Panic broke out inside the vehicle. When they reached town, a crowd formed at the stage. The crowd turned into a mob — and they beat him badly.
“To survive, I pretended to be unconscious,” he said. A few nearby watchmen tried to stop the beating. Eventually, he escaped and made his way home.
At home, his brother Rufftone was shocked by how he looked. That’s when Owen noticed something was wrong with his eye. He was taken to Kikuyu Hospital, where doctors operated on him. But it was too late — he had already lost sight in one eye.
Some time later, while walking in town, a foreign doctor noticed his condition and offered to help. The doctor performed a second surgery for free, making the eye look normal on the outside. But the truth remained. “He told me I’d live with one eye from then on,” Owen recalled.
The experience forced him to reflect. He stopped stealing. He started thinking seriously about his life. That moment pushed him toward faith, and later, gospel music.
“I realised life is not something to joke with,” he said.
To this day, Daddy Owen wears sunglasses in public. But it is not a fashion choice like other artists, it is to cover the eye he lost during that beating.
By Vivian K.