Recently, a video of a man who resembles Kenya’s first president, Mzee Jomo Kenyatta, has gained a lot of public attention.
Michael Ngige, who lives in the US, has encountered many people who have mistaken him for the late former president Mzee Jomo Kenyatta. In an interview with Mkenya Marekani TV, Michael shared that he is aware of people’s comparisons of him to Kenya’s founding father.
“People often tell me I look very much like Mzee Jomo Kenyatta. This started when I was very young,” he said.
Michael was born in Pumwani Maternity Hospital and grew up in the neighbourhood of Jericho, Kenya. As a child, his fellow friends would tell him he had no resemblance whatsoever with his siblings but rather looked like Jomo Kenyatta.
He recalled having a difficult relationship with his mother when he started asking about his father as a child. His questions were often met with bitterness and led nowhere. His mother is now 80 years old.
“I asked her who my father was. As soon as I asked her that question, she slapped me so hard that I hit the wall and started seeing stars. She beat me and warned me against asking the same question again,” Ngige recalled.
Michael Ngige grew up with psychological scars, in addition to the physical ones from the beatings. He felt he was being punished unfairly and ruthlessly for seeking the truth about his father.
As a result, a rift developed between him and his mother. He grew up calling another man his father, but several issues sparked his curiosity about his true biological father.
He mentioned that the man he called his father as a child never showed him the same affection he showed other children. The constant lack of love and harsh treatment from his mother also influenced his decision to leave home at a young age.
“That man did not love me but his kids, because I was not biologically his. My mum always listened to her man and would occasionally punish me whenever her lover told me I had done something wrong,” he recalled.
“Sometimes I would run away and sleep outside or sleep at my neighbours because of being beaten by my mum.”
To this day, his mother has not revealed who his true biological father is. However, according to Ngige, his mother’s MP back then was Mbiyu Koinange, and they lived somewhat close to each other.
“When I tell her that people tell me I look like Kenyatta, she responds that it is true, there is a resemblance, but he is not your biological father,” he said.
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Michael mentioned that after the 2022 elections, he had a conversation with former Prime Minister Raila Odinga, who remarked that he seemed like a reincarnation of Jomo Kenyatta. He also said he has spoken to Francis Atwoli and Eugene Wamalwa.
Michael Ngige revealed that he moved to the US in 2012 to escape what he described as political chaos. Wherever he went in America, people consistently mistook him for Jomo Kenyatta.
Initially, he was hosted by a church. His first job was in food delivery, but today, he is in the local excursions business. Micheal Ngige revealed that he has two children living in Kenya.