Benjamin Knoxwell Ngatia Wambugu is a Nakuru town-based businessman who is uniquely known for his love for newspapers.
Wambugu 83 reportedly started collecting the Daily Nation newspapers at the age of 31 years; little did he know his hobby would someday save him from a tragedy.
The retired chief revealed his love for newspapers started while he was in high school at Kabarnet High School in 1964 and has since been a lifetime hobby.
“I love the “Nation,” and that is why I have deliberately collected each copy since 1971. Preserving the history recorded in this publication is my hobby,” says Wambugu.
His entire collection was, however, almost wiped out on July 27, 2022, after he was conned thousands of shillings, leaving him in debt.
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“I was approached by individuals who asked me to invest Sh 64,000 to import some legumes to be supplied in a local high school. However, I ended up being duped. Of this money, Sh40,000 was a loan from a friend, and Sh24,000 was from my workplace,” he recalled.
The incident left Wambugu stranded, forcing him to sell his newspapers to repay the loan. So big was the collection that he fetched Sh90,000 from it.
“I called a newspaper buyer and sold a huge chunk of my collection. I was able to fetch Sh 90,000. I cleared my debt and gave the rest of the money to my wife,” he said.
He has now started a new collection of Newspapers from 2021 as he intends to have the best pieces in his collection preserved in the Museum of Kenya to form part of the archived historical information.
