More than two decades after the tragic passing of Kenyan hip-hop icon Issah Mmari Wangui, popularly known as E-Sir, his brother Habib has revealed chilling details about their final conversation, saying the late rapper had a premonition of his own death and had, in some way, prepared for it.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with Dr. King’ori on Saturday, March 22, 2025, Habib recounted a deeply personal and emotional moment they shared just before E-Sir embarked on his last trip to Nakuru.
Habib vividly recalled their final exchange, detailing how his brother made remarks that, in hindsight, appeared to be eerie foreshadowings of his impending death, telling him that he could not travel with him to Nakuru and instead instructed him to stay behind and look after their mother.
“He told me, ‘You cannot come with me; just stay back and check on mom,’ and when I questioned him about it, he dismissed me and told me not to insist,” Habib recounted, adding that at the time, he had brushed it off as just one of those moments where his older brother was being protective, not knowing that those words carried a much deeper meaning, one that would only reveal itself in the cruellest of ways.
Even more unsettling was another part of their conversation, where Habib jokingly suggested that E-Sir should leave behind some of the many clothes he had recently purchased so that he could wear them, only for the rapper to respond, telling him that one day all of his belongings would belong to him.
“At the time, I did not think much about what he meant, but looking back now, I can say that he was prepared; he knew it was coming,” Habib revealed.
He went on to narrate how the tragic news of his brother’s accident reached him, recalling that on that particular day, he had been on a road trip with friends at Manga, only to be abruptly informed that E-Sir had been involved in an accident.
He shared that the moment immediately sent him into shock, forcing him to retreat and sit alone as he tried to process the devastating reality that his brother, who had just been speaking to him days earlier, was now gone forever.
“I remember being told that there had been an accident, and at that moment, I just left and sat by myself, asking myself so many questions, trying to make sense of it all, and feeling like maybe, just maybe, it would have been better if he had found me at home with those clothes instead of leaving the way he did,” Habib recounted.
Esir’s death
The South C’s finest rapper met his death on March 16, 2003, after a fatal road accident along the Nairobi-Nakuru Highway, losing his life at just 21 years old.
His death sent shockwaves across the Kenyan music industry as fans, fellow artistes, and industry players struggled to come to terms with the loss of one of the country’s most talented and influential rappers.
As a young artiste, Esir’s music had already set new standards in Kenyan hip-hop, with hits like ‘Boomba Train’, ‘Leo ni Leo’, and ‘Hamunitishi’ cementing his status as a legend even before he had reached his peak.
At the time of his death, E-Sir had just been recognised for his immense contribution to the local music scene, receiving a nomination at the Mdundo Awards in 2017 for Most Downloaded Hip-Hop Artiste.
