North Rift comedians rally to save ailing entertainer Tapnyolei

While a group of North Rift content creators entertained fans with online comedy, one of their own was silently battling emptiness and despair.

For months, Comedian Eliud Lagat, popularly known as Tapnyolei Rosaline, had quietly drifted away from the vibrant circle of artistes.

Worn down by an eye condition, Langat grew wretched and disheartened, and his once bright star in comedy suddenly dimmed.

Gathered under a tree at Lagat’s homestead in Kaibeyo, Nandi, a group of comedians shared roasted green maize and hot tea as they rallied around their ailing colleague. They had come not just to cheer him up but to offer financial support to a withdrawn friend in the laughter industry.  

Lagat’s eye troubles began in 1989, when he was just two years old, with persistent pain, irritation and redness.

From a distance, the gathering looked like a casual visit to wish him well, but in reality, an online fund raiser was in full swing. The compound echoed with shout-outs as fans sent contributions, some as little as Sh10.

International comic Meshack Kiprop, popularly known as Arap Uri, anchored the event, helping raise Sh1 million, part of a Sh1.5 million target to fund Lagat’s eye surgery and the costly drugs required for recovery.

Despite moving from one hospital to another, Lagat’s condition worsened, forcing him to drop out of school in Standard Seven in the early 2000s.

“When I reached Standard Seven, my situation got worse. I could hardly distinguish what the teacher wrote on the blackboard. Sometimes I would write part of the notes at the top of the page and the rest at the bottom, without knowing what belonged where. Learning became too difficult, and I decided to drop out,” Lagat says.

His parents sold nearly all their land to pay for medicine and visits to eye clinics in Nandi, Eldoret, and Western Kenya, leaving the family with less than an acre of rocky land where Lagat’s house now stands.

Despite the constant irritation, painful eyeballs, and fading vision, Lagat found fleeting joy in comedy and boda boda riding. Through his role as a village woman, Tapnyolei Rosaline, Lagat built an online following that earned him money for medication. His fortunes, however, declined after undergoing surgery at Tenwek Hospital in Bomet, where he received a cornea transplant in his right eye.

Although he briefly regained his sight, the progress stalled when he ran out of money to buy post-surgery drugs essential for full recovery. Locals say Lagat’s wife left him with their two children after his condition failed to improve, even after the surgery two years ago.

He turned to boda boda riding to support his family, but yet another blow awaited him. Residents shunned his services, claiming he was blind and unsafe on the road.

“I had quit comedy, and boda boda riding was the only way to put food on the table. But last year, people refused to board, saying I was blind,” Lagat recalls.

He expressed gratitude to fellow comedians Denis Kiptoo (Gogo Small), Thomas Kemboi (Kapkeno), and MC Masir, among others, for rallying around him. “I had given up after a doctor advised me to start using a white cane, saying I was visually impaired,” he adds.

His mother, Jane Kurgat, says the condition reduced the family to paupers, forcing her to prune tea for survival after selling off their inherited land.

“It has been an unbearable burden to me. Eliud is my firstborn son, and he should be supporting me, but because of his condition, I am the one supporting him,” said his mother.

Neighbour Peter Mosbei added that beyond years of pain, Lagat has endured stigma and isolation because of his condition.

Meshack Kiprop, who has been running an online campaign, said the fundraiser attracted contributions from Kenyans both locally and abroad. He appealed for more support to help Lagat undergo another surgery and revive his comedy career.

Comedian Denis Kiptoo said artists became alarmed when Lagat suddenly quit comedy. Despite being abandoned by his spouse, Lagat has taken on the role of both father and mother to his young children. The comedians, he said, wanted to celebrate him by raising funds for treatment.

Encouraged by their support, Lagat said: “With my friends stepping in to help, my dream of returning to comedy and content creation is alive. I want to be Tapnyolei Rosaline once again.”

Content creator Elisha Kosgei, alias MC Majuu, noted that Lagat’s eye problem and constant pain had stalled his creative work. “His eyesight would fail from 6pm, which affected his movements because he had to be home by 5pm,” he said.