Mr Muchoki Maina during an interview at his Gathanji home in Murang’a County on Wednesday.
Mr Muchoki Maina, 42, is a first year university student but his journey this far is littered with misfortunes that would break even the most optimistic of believers.
He has had to sit Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) exams twice and the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) test four times.
So difficult has his education journey been that he had to drop out of nursery school in 1990 and turn to the streets at one point.
The road to his first year as an undergraduate may have been stretched and winding, but he still has quite the distance to cover, as Mr Maina hopes to earn at least one doctorate degree, no matter how long it takes.
For the orphan – his father Joseph Maina Ruhiu died in 1987, and his mother Muthoni Ruhiu in 2002 – the genesis of his troubled childhood is a family curse.
"My father had been admitted to the prestigious Oxford University having schooled at Aga Khan High School," he says.
"I am told that my grandfather Ruhiu Muchoki would hear none of it that his son had been invited by Europeans to study in their land,” Mr Maina adds.
His grandfather’s apprehension was that Mr Ruhiu would be taught to disown his culture, become a colonial government collaborator and eventually lose his cultural identity.
"That is how my father was condemned to forego his education dream, and died a poor man," Mr Maina narrates.
He believes it is this family jinx that has frustrated his quest for education.
The sixth born in a family of 12 also believes that it is this jinx that saw mysterious deaths claim half of his siblings.
"We are only four brothers and two sisters today. My mother died in 2002, leaving us orphans under the care of our aunt," he narrates.
At age seven, Maina enrolled at Kangure nursery school in Kiharu constituency, Muranga County but dropped out to help provide for his siblings since their mother had deserted them upon their father’s death.
"Three years later, I enrolled at Ititu Primary School and eventually sat my first KCPE in 2000 and scored 395 marks out of the possible 700," he explains.
He was admitted to Kikuyu Day Secondary School in Kiambu County, but he had no fees.
"When I attempted reporting without school fees and was turned away, I decided never to return to my home village. I started living in the streets in Kawangware," he says.
But he believes that God's eye was on him, for three days into his street life, a carpenter employed him in a workshop.
"After listening to my story, he offered to teach me carpentry...But that was not my wish. I had since resolved that I desired to pursue education to at least a doctorate level.”
As a carpentry apprentice, he would follow pupils in uniform, admiring their luck in having someone sponsor them to school.
"I abandoned carpentry classes and started earning as a casual labourer in Kawangware. In January, 2007, I enrolled at Rungiri High School, aged 24.
I had saved Sh5,000 but the enrollment fee was Sh15,000. “The principal let me go to class, without even taking my money.”
He used the Sh5,000 to rent a shanty for Sh300 monthly rent.
"I would get out of school at 5pm and run errands for pay till midnight...While in Form Three in 2009, I got sick and abandoned school.”
After he got well, he went to the capital city where he became a casual worker at a construction site.
"I nearly died in 2010 when I was struck by electricity in a building we were constructing. I was admitted to hospital for 14 days.”
With the academic bug still eating him, he went back to casual labour, a journey that landed him back to school.
"At one time, I sneaked into the University of Nairobi's Kikuyu campus just to hear lessons in progress. I was caught. Interrogated, my desire for education caught their attention. I was given work there as a casual labourer.”
As he cleaned his way around the campus, he says he would spend most of his times behind lecture theatres just to listen to lecturers.
"In 2014 I was transferred to the main campus administration department.”
It was while there that he interacted with students' files.
"It hit me that without KCSE results, I would never get myself into university. In 2015 I booked for KCPE adult class exams despite the fact that I had previously dropped out of Form Three," he says.
Mr Maina had a desire to score 400 marks out of a possible 500. So he enrolled for KCPE again.
He got 313 marks out of possible 500 marks in his second KCPE attempt.
He got sponsors who enrolled him at Kikuyu Boys High School, switched to Damacrest Senior School boarding for his Form Two and Three.
Thereafter he went back to Murang'a County to join Form Four at Ititu Secondary school.
At 37 in 2020, he scored a C Plain of 41 points, repeated and in 2021 he scored a C Plain of 44 points, denting his dream of qualifying to study at the prestigious Harvard University in the US.
“I wanted to repeat a third time but majority of teachers told me mine was not a desire for education but a possible witchcraft spell,” he claims.
Mr Maina says pupils had started referring to him as mzae (elderly man), the society now urging him to cease pursuing bad dreams and instead go and start a family.
He refused, and instead enrolled for adult classes, commonly known as ngumbaru, in Murang'a town.
For the 2022 KCSE he scored a C+ of 46 points.
Still dissatisfied, despite the improvement, Mr Maina enrolled one more time in 2023. He scored yet another C+ of 47 points.
He applied for three opportunities: as a local assistant chief where there was a vacancy, to join Kigari Teachers College and also for a university placement.
"The government said it could not employ a bachelor as a local administrator. Murang'a University of Technology gave me a placement, and so did Kigari Teachers College," he says.
Murang'a University enrolled him for a Bachelor of Science in Hospitality Management.
Dr Samuel Gatama, who is a don at Kenyatta University, encouraged him to ignore the stigma and join the university.
An accountant, Nephert Muchiri, rallied Dr Gatama and the Catholic Diocese of Murang'a and YouTuber Mr Githuki wa Nyokabi to raise money for his education.
As a second semester student, his challenge now is to raise the Sh900,000 full course fees.
He is optimistic that he will somehow graduate in 2028, clear his masters in 2031 and his doctorate in 2034. And he aspires to join Harvard University at some point.
