Joseph Kamaru:
The celebrated Kikuyu benga musician is one of Kenya’s music legends.
The 77-year-old, known to have recorded more than 1,000 songs – some which have never been released – also worked as a houseboy and a nanny within in Nairobi’s Eastlands before venturing into music.
“I was paid the sum Sh180 a month. This was enough to put my sister through a commercial typing course and buy myself a guitar. Despite the bleak outlook, I never stopped believing that one day, I would become a somebody,” he says.
The musician who attended Kangema Primary School in Murang’a, left in 1957 for a tough life on Nairobi’s mean streets where he peddled everything from medical drugs to vegetables before securing a formal job. He admits that it has been a tough climb to the top.
He remembers that for a brief period of time, he enjoyed a special relationship with presidents Jomo Kenyatta and Daniel Moi but fell out with both over matters of principle.
“I was an artiste through and through and defended my constituency, writing songs that reflected the mood of the times,” he recalls.
