Until his death, in Nairobi on Friday, former Kibera MP the late Ken Okoth was undoubtedly one of the most popular and celebrated leaders in the nation.
However, most people know him as an MP, with just a few having information about his earlier days and childhood days and how he struggled his way up, hailing from a poor family.
In an interview with the Nation in 2013, the same year he came to office, Okoth revealed how he had to do several jobs at the same time to fend for his family due to poverty.
He revealed that he was forced to sell newspapers during the day.
“I went to The Nation newspapers where I had done voluntary work in the past and they allowed me to sell newspapers…. I delivered The East African every Monday in offices along Ngong Road all the way to Karen," he said.
At night, he said, he was at times forced to double up as a watchman and protected the Maendeleo Ya Wanawake premises in Nairobi.
“The Goethe Institute had meanwhile allowed me to study German almost for free. In return, I at times doubled up as a watchman at their Maendeleo ya Wanawake House premises," he said.
The Kibera-born youthful leader also revealed that his father abandoned them when they were still young.
Okoth succumbed to colon cancer, barely a month after his return from France where he was undergoing treatment for months, and died aged 41.