By Dishon Lionel Murage

On October 1, 2025, the Wasini community and Kenya’s conservation fraternity lost one of their most respected elders and environmental champions, Mzee Abdallah Omar Juma. For nearly two decades, I had the honor of working closely with Mzee Omar in advancing community-led conservation of coastal and marine resources along Kenya’s southern coast.

Mzee Omar, a lifelong resident of Wasini Village—one of Kenya’s oldest coastal settlements and home to about 3,000 people—embodied humility, integrity, and unwavering commitment to the stewardship of the marine environment. His leadership inspired generations of fishers and youth to appreciate that sustainable livelihoods and healthy ecosystems are inseparable.

He played a pivotal role in mobilizing the Wasini community to establish one of Kenya’s first community-managed marine protected areas, laying the foundation for the creation of the 11km2 km² Wasini Beach Management Unit Co-Management Area (BMU CMA). Through this initiative, Mzee Omar helped secure local livelihoods while protecting critical marine habitats, including coral reefs, mangroves, and seagrass meadows.

In 2020, Mzee Omar was honored with the Seacology Prize, an international award recognizing grassroots conservation leaders for their courage, dedication, and long-term impact. This distinction celebrated his decades of voluntary service to his community and to the protection of Kenya’s marine ecosystems.

His passing leaves a profound void among his friends, family and colleagues. Yet, his legacy continues to shine brightly through the community institutions he helped build and the countless people he mentored. For those of us who were privileged to call him a friend, we can only say: “Mzee Omar, you are gone from our sight, but never from our hearts. May God forgive your shortcomings and grant you eternal peace in paradise. Amen.”

The passing of Mzee Abdallah Omar Juma is not only a loss for Wasini Village but also for Kenya’s wider marine conservation movement. His life stands as a testament to the power of local leadership, integrity and community-driven stewardship of the environment.

“Indeed, we belong to God, and indeed, to Him we shall return.”

May his soul rest in eternal peace.

Dishon Lionel Murage is Seacology’s Field Representative for East Africa.