Kenyan BBC Journalist Peter Mwangangi Shares Photos of Shanty Where He Lived

Renowned Kenyan BBC journalist Peter Mwangangi on Sunday narrated the hardships he endured as a student living in a shanty.

In a Twitter thread, Mwangangi took his fans down the memory lane as a college student 10 years ago.

"I used to live here as a student at Daystar University about 10 years ago. Ironically, though my room was called River Rufiji, water shortage was the order of the day.

"And so due to the many challenges we had, we used to refer to the place as ‘Hostile B’ (Real name is Hostel B, an off-campus accommodation in Athi River)," Mwangangi stated.

According to the journalist, the place also experienced frequent power blackouts and power rationing.

"Rent was Ksh 2,500 (about 25 USD), but it was a lot at the time and I rarely made the payment on time (despite living with a comrade), so we got used to the landlord locking us out when we defaulted," he added.

As a survival tactic, the journalist indicated that they made friends with the caretaker to a point she sympathized with our situation consequently putting her job on the line.

"So at some point, she gave us the extra padlock and keys to lock the room ourselves whenever she knew the landlord would visit. The landlord would find two padlocks on our room and get the impression that we were locked out! May God bless that caretaker wherever she is," he exclaimed.

On visiting the place where he used to live, Mwangangi noted how one Mama Kasilanda (Mama Mboga) used to sell them vegetables on credit with him settling part of the grocer's debt during the visit.

"Despite your circumstances, let no one tell you that you can't make it! God has blessed me beyond measure, more than I could dream of while struggling at this Hostel," Mwangangi concluded.