Celebrated Kenyan radio presenter Maina Kageni has talked about his life in the UK and the hardships he went through

Celebrated Kenyan radio presenter Maina Kageni has talked about his life in the UK and the hardships he went through

Celebrated Kenyan radio presenter Maina Kageni has talked about his life in the UK and the hardships he went through.

Speaking during a recent interview on Churchill Show, Kageni disclosed that he moved to the UK after completing his high school education and enrolled in a college but never attended classes.

His mum stopped supporting him after learning he was not attending college and this forced him to find a job to sustain himself.

“After completing high school I moved to the UK and I went from everything to nothing. I registered for college but never attended.”

“After my mum found out, that was the end of everything. I had to find my own place and get a job. It was the hardest thing ever and that’s when you realize that you’re strong,” he added.

He got a job where he was earning Sh35,000 per week which he felt was not enough as truck drivers were taking home Sh210,000 weekly. To become a truck driver, he had to save over half a million Kenyan shillings to acquire a license.

“I saw how truck drivers used to make a lot of money and it was Sh210,000 a week yet the most I could get was Sh35,000. So I knew I had to get there but ubaya kufika hapo you need a license and to get it, it was like Sh560,000 and I had to save,’ he said.

Kageni eventually got the license and began delivering goods to various destinations but his desire to earn more money pushed him into working extra hours.

He was so focused on making cash that he forgot about his personal hygiene and outlook. He says some Kenyans once mistook him for a Nigerian drug peddler due to his bad smell.

“I remember one day I was going home and no one could sit next to me. I was smelling. Opposite me, there were two ladies and they started gossiping about me in Kikuyu language. “Unaona hiki kimnigeria, kinaenda kuuza madawa”. I sat there and listened and could say nothing because that’s where life had taken me,’ he noted.

After having made and saved enough cash, Maina started a car exporting business, which proved to be lucrative. He later moved back to Kenya where he joined the media industry even though he had no college education or media background. Today, Kageni is the most popular radio presenters in the country and earns more than Sh1 million a month at Classic FM, where he hosts a breakfast show.