Muigai wa Njoroge is a celebrated Kikuyu gospel artiste who has had a fair share of controversy for a few things.
First, it was his polygamous way of life that stirred a debate among Kenyan some supporting him while others castigated him for allegedly ‘setting a bad example’ as a gospel artiste.
Then came his political stance where he released a few songs chiding the leadership of the Jubilee regime for caring less about the plight of common mwananchi.
However, behind the star artiste he is, Muigai has a painful story of making it in life.
In a past interview with Kameme FM, he recalled living in abject poverty and ditching school while in class eight when he began an early life of providence to his siblings and mother.
One day while in class eight, he did not have books that the teacher had requested and he knew this would only end up in one way; a thorough beating.
“There was one thing the teacher was good at; caning and I did not wait for it,” he talks of his last day in school. “I jumped over the fence behind the toilets at around 10 am and left”.
On this day, he made his first Ksh35 from a farm job he was given by a villager in Kabaa, Nyandarua County. This marked his long journey providing for his siblings.
But this was just a start on what was ahead of him but never forgets this one incident that made him know he was a poor child raised by a loving but poor mother. He first saw her mother wear a pair of slippers when they went to Nakuru.
His uncle bought her mother her first pair of slippers to get to a public toilet in Nakuru.
“We went to Nakuru and when we arrived, my mother wanted to ease herself and I was the first one to get in. When I came out, I had worms on my feet because I was barefoot,” he recalls.
Muigai remarks that in his teenage years, he had to share the same makeshift bed with his mother until one day when his grandmother gave him money to be circumcised. His mother borrowed a rich neighbour a bed where he slept on grass stuffed in gunny bags to act as a mattress.
Years after, he came to Nairobi in South B where he was employed for a while but returned to the village after his mother left the village secretly. He followed her to Kawangare where they reunited and he secured a job at a hotel.
This is where he met veteran media personality Njogu wa Njoroge.
“This is when I met Njogu wa Njoroge. He selling mitumba clothes nearby around are 46 (Kawangware)…”
Many years later, he composed his hit song “Kigutha” which he sold in markets within Nairobi and Kiambu. This is where his breakthrough came from.
He offers that the song came with a lot of favour and he built his first house in Mwihoko, Githurai from the proceeds he got from this song.