Popular NTV Kiswahili anchor Dan Mule on Thursday revealed that he used to work as a sweeper at the state-owned National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB).
Mule explained that he took up the job, while he was 18 years, in an attempt to settle a Kshs1.8 million debt that had been left by his late father.
“I was an exemplary sweeper, and this was not lost on the supervisor who not only picked me consistently for six months but also put me in charge of other sweepers and earned me a cool Kshs230 per day,” the news anchor was quoted by the Nation.
He further divulged that while he was still in high school, his father passed away leaving the huge debt to him and his mother. Auctioneers arrived shortly after demanding to possess their property.
That is when he went out in search of a job to salvage their home from the auctioneers.
In Nakuru, he knocked on numerous doors in search of a job that was in line with his certificate but always turned out unlucky. That is when he dropped the certificates and proceeded to Industrial area in the county.
He was first hired by Kenya Feeds as a casual labourer tasked with loading and off-loading animal feed bags that weighed 70kgs.
Mule stated that the job was tedious especially with the management’s constant expectation that he carries bags weighing more. He quit in two days.
He got another gig at a pyrethrum firm where the nature of jobs only lasted a week. The model of hire was tricky such that they would line outside the company for the owners to pick whoever they saw fit.
“It was tough for me. I was only 18, working with burly men who swing 90kgs bags as easily as you could lift a bag of feathers,” stated Mule explaining that he mostly got picked in scenarios where all applicants were hired.
After all that tussle, reveals Mule, he finally landed on a job that he was fairly good at. Sweeping the NCPB silos.
After the stint, he did numerous other jobs including hawking Celtel (Airtel today) lines and tutoring at a conmen-filled institution where he never got paid.
He then started writing for Taifa Leo newspaper and after months of waiting, Nation Media finally hired him as a correspondent. He then climbed up the ranks.
His family’s debt also miraculously vanished after the auctioneering firm took up an issue with the bank leading to its 100 percent waiver.
