Juma Nyongesa’s rise against the trend is a classic example of the traditional rags-to-riches story. What many would consider a pipe dream became a reality for him.

Mr Nyongesa’s life has been full of twists and turns but he eventually struck gold with success in the education sector. There was light at the end of the tunnel.

The Kakamega-born and bred man worked as a tea collector, a security guard before eventually sealing his fate in the tides of employment as the director at Kenya Institute of Development Studies (K.I.D.S).

He is also a lecturer at the university where he was once a security guard. Inspirational to say the least.

Juma Nyongesa is the firstborn in a family of 11 kids. Therefore, he had to work with his parents to supplement the family’s revenue streams.

“As a firstborn when you have come of age, you are supposed to take care of your young siblings, including but not limited to paying their school fees,” he said in a previous interview.

Juma Nyongesa completed his KCPE exams in 1998, performing exemplarily well.

Despite posting great results and receiving admission to Musingu High School, Nyongesa knew that a dark cloud hovered over his bright future. The family would be challenged to raise the school fees.

“I had passed so well, but the challenge was that my family could not afford to send me to that school, because of the money needed for my school fees,” he said.

His father pleaded with him to join Eshikulu Day Secondary School, an institution he’d afford if he sold his ancestral land. Nyongesa agreed to join Eshikulu Secondary which was 35 kilometres from their home.

Four years afterwards, Nyongesa sat his KCSE exams, but unfortunately, he missed the university cut-off marks which was B plain during that time.

Forced to stay home by circumstances, Nyongesa tried to enrol into the KDF and KWS but was rejected in both instances. In 2004, a leeway opened up for him to join Kenya Army.

However, 38 days into the recruitment process, he and others were ordered to leave citing ‘errors in recruitment’. He later came to discover that a powerful politician had brought in his men and he was ejected to create space for them.

Nyongesa decided to travel from Kakamega, seeking employment at a tea plantation.

“In 2005, I travelled to Limuru to stay with my aunt, who worked on a tea plantation. I worked as a casual tea picker for a few months, but my heart was not settled,” he recounted.

His cousin who stayed in Nairobi hooked him up with a security firm in Westlands where he earned Sh. 3,600 monthly.

“I later travelled to Nairobi to stay with my cousin in Kawangware who worked in a private security company,” Nyongesa narrated.

He worked hard and earned a promotion to G4S security, where the payment was better. He started saving money for his college education.

Upon starting at G4S, his first stint was at Kenyatta University’s Nyayo hostels. There, he met some of his fellow schoolmates. They trolled him.

“Word quickly spread to their village that Nyongesa’s son was now a watchman; this brought a lot of sorrow to my dad, who had hoped for better,” he recalled.

Juma Nyongesa was later transferred to Daystar University when G4S received a contract from the college. He applied and was transferred to the main entrance as the chief guard.

Juma embraced his job gladly and interacted with students and staff. He poured his heart into the job and his efforts weren’t futile. He was listed as the customer care of the month, in a magazine run by the school students.

Still, Juma never gave up on his dreams to study. He continued saving and made a breakthrough in January 2007 when he enrolled as an undergraduate student in Community Development and a minor in Business Management and Administration.

READ: Meet little-known owners of popular Afya Centre building

“A friend advised me to also apply to Daystar University saying it will be an interesting and inspiring story to other people. And that I what I did,” he said.

After graduation, Nyongesa’s first stint was at Barclays Bank as a credit officer. The job wasn’t satisfying so he quit. He was later employed as a project officer at a children’s charity organisation.

“During this time, I remembered what one of my lecturers asking me while doing a class presentation if I had ever thought of being a lecturer one day claiming that my class presentations were good,” he recalled.

This is how Juma Nyongesa summoned the willpower to become a tutor at K.I.D.S, one of the best career choices he’s ever made.

“So this is how I applied for a tutoring job at TVET College called Kenya Institute of Development Studies (KIDS technical college) and was lucky to get the job,” he added.

In 2011, he started working at KIDS as a tutor for diplomas and certificates and within six months, he was promoted to academics administrator.

“Three years down the line; I have been allowed to be the leader of all campuses at K.I.D.S,” he says.

“I also lecture at Daystar University on a part-time basis. And this is quite a story; from being a security guard to a student and now a lecturer at the same university,” Juma Nyongesa remarked.