Michael Gitonga Njogo was little known beyond his immediate circle, until his ‘lifetime secret’ went public days ago.
The moment he appeared on a local TV station, his striking resemblance to President Uhuru Kenyatta — from his eyes, body gestures, complexion, height to his deep voice — elicited wild public debate.
His story spread like a bush fire, to the extent that people who meet him within Umoja where he resides, jokingly request him to ‘lift’ the latest directive that all bars should be closed for one month so as to curb the spread of coronavirus.
Nicknamed ‘Uhunye’ in the hood, the father of three has always gone about his business unperturbed by the striking resemblance to the son of Gatundu – until that TV interview catapulted him the public limelight and unexpected fame.
“Before the coronavirus, I was busy doing my own things, even though people would make remarks about my resemblance to President Uhuru. But things took a sudden turn when I visited a gym where a friend took my photo and shared it on social media,” Njogo said.
Njogo was born in Nakuru’s Kiambogo area, where he says his parents were both police officers, and that his mother, who has long passed on, once served in Gatundu.
“I cannot say much about them because my mother died when I was in Class Eight, and my father had passed on a year earlier.
“From then on, my sister and I were forced to start hustling to take care of our younger siblings. I have done mjengo and other odd jobs to survive. I am not a softie as people would imagine,” he says.
Njogo says he has been doing small businesses in Nairobi for the past four years. These include buying and selling of potatoes.
