One year ago, on this day in Kenya woke up to heartbreaking news that legendary football fan Isaac Juma was no more.
Juma was a constant feature on the spectator stands and was allegedly hacked to death by unknown assailants while in his Bukaya Village, Mumias, Kakamega County home.
A key suspect in the murder was later arrested by detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) and later presented to the court.
After the suspect arrest, the DCI released a statement stating that his children had reported to Juma seeing silhouettes of human beings lurking against the fence, but he took the matter lightly.
A few hours later, they heard a commotion in the sheep pen, and immediately afterward, the sheep began bleating, prompting Juma and his 17-year-old son to dash outside.
Before they could establish what was happening, armed men armed with machetes attacked them, hacking Juma to death. His teenage son, however, managed to cheat death narrowly by escaping to the farm.
That was on 26 January 2022, but many Kenyans' memories are still painfully fresh.
READ: Family of late football superfan Isaac Juma report 2 night attacks
Juma had alerted the public two years before his death that his life was in danger due to land issues. In an interview with a local newspaper, the Standard, he said that some close relatives wanted him dead over a land dispute.
Juma was a simple man, and many wondered why someone could wish him death.
For 40 years, Juma ate and drank the beautiful game. When the Harambee Stars or his favorite club AFC Leopards, were playing, the short energetic man never missed on the stands. His body always had one message after the other on his tummy and back, and one could never tell his face because it was always colored red, green, black, and white.
His jig around the stadium and traditional dances, his constant clutch on his albeit fast-fading Kenyan flag made him the face of the Kenyan game.
When his favorite club AFC Leopards, was playing away, Juma led traveling fans, and on such occasions, though he was not a loud fellow, he used his cheering skills to silence the home crowds.
In victory or defeat, Juma was always behind his team, using his trademark dancing moves to inspire other fans to show the same spirit.
Those who grew up around Juma say he developed an interest in football at a tender age and was a keen listener to football commentaries on transistor radios back then.
In his later stages of life, Juma involved himself in a newspaper vending business in Nakuru town, where he financed his travels from little profits.
In one of the last interviews with local media, Juma was asked why he never missed Harambee Stars and AFC Leopards matches. He replied: "It is my love for AFC Leopards that drives my passion and energy. I do not get paid for the same, not even a cent."
For all those years, Juma graced the stands; he only earned the Kenya Premier League chairman's lifetime achievement award in 2011, which came with Ksh 100,000 cheque for his support for Kenya Premier League.
"I would hike lifts from buses headed to the city or where the match would take place, and whenever my team lost, I felt much pain that I would not even take a meal that day," Juma added.
Over a year on, football will remember a passionate fan who grew up in a humble family in Kakamega and went on to become the Kenyan national football team and AFC Leopards' mascot.