It takes a certain amount of guts to go against the trend and pursue what many might consider a pipe dream in the traditional rags to riches stories.
Juma Nyongesa’s quest for happiness was fraught with stumbling blocks, but his tenacity and determination brought him to victory.
From working as a tea collector and security guard to eventually becoming the director of the Kenya Institute of Development Studies (KIDS), his story is one of never losing hope.
Nyongesa had previously told the media that he grew up in a community in Kakamega County’s Matunda.
His parents, who worked as casual laborers, battled to support for their family while also educating their children.
He was the firstborn of eleven children, and he frequently accompanied his parents during school vacations to assist the family supplement their income.
He received an admission letter to Musingu High School after completing his KCPE in 1998 with excellent scores.
The announcement, while happy, elicited varied feelings from the family, especially as the difficulty of raising school fees entered the picture.
“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 recounted.
His father begged him to enroll in Eshikulu Day Secondary School, which he could afford at the moment.
Nyongesa consented to the request, prompting his grandfather to sell a portion of his ancestral farm to earn the necessary funds.
Nyongesa passed the KCSE examinations four years later and received a B average, but she lost out on direct admission to the institution.
Nyongesa was depressed by the course of events and attempted but failed to enlist in the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) and Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS).
In 2004, he was given the opportunity to join the Kenya Army, but he was ordered to leave the camp 38 days later due to an error made during the recruitment procedure.
“We were only told that there was an error in the process of recruitment. Later, I learnt that a powerful politician had his people and we were ejected to create space. This was very devastating,” he stated.
Nyongesa decided not to give up and started working on a tea plantation near Limuru.
Later, he changed employment and returned to Nairobi, where he worked as a security guard in Westlands, earning Ksh36,000 per month.
The experienced guard worked hard and was promoted to a senior position. He was later sent to Daystar University as a guard.
Nyongesa met significant people at this opportune time, and they ended up providing him another chance in education.
Nyongesa was able to save enough money to raise the required payments. He was also able to assist his coworkers by assisting them in regaining their footing. This drew the attention of Canadian officials who visited the institution frequently. They wanted to meet with him.
“They were interested in what my future dreams were. I told them of my desire to go back to school and in our second meeting, they said they were willing to support my education, plus that of my fellow guard,” he stated.
Nyongesa started at Daystar in 2007 to pursue a Bachelor of Arts in Community Development with a Business Management minor.
He tried a few accounting jobs after college before landing a lecturer position at KIDS.
He was promoted to the position of college principal within a year.
