Nick Chege alias Kartelo is a presenter at Milele Fm and hosts Bangaiza Reloaded which airs from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m, Monday to Friday alongside presenter, Chris Da Bass.
He is famed for his prowess in 'Sheng', the humour he boasts, and this does much to blanket the troubles he had growing up.
While featuring on the Friday, February 22 episode of K24's Up Close With Betty, the radio personality intimated the challenges his family endured over the years, notably, when his father walked out on them.
Kartelo revealed that his mother was deeply affected, since she was recovering from knife wounds, and had no job at the time. To top it off, she had three sons to raise.
"My father just disappeared. It was in 2006. He just woke up one morning, went to work and never came back. We have never seen him since," Kartelo recalled.
"My mum had been posted to work in Murang'a as a teacher. My father convinced her to live at his home since he was from the area. But it did not go as planned, her inlaws beat her up, they stabbed her. She was admitted to hospital for a long time.
"My father left when she was bedridden, did not have a job, was still recovering. So it really hurt my mother," Kartelo intimated.
He noted that despite it all, his mother was able to raise him and two other siblings all on a Ksh150 paycheque a day for doing laundry.
Kartelo stated that despite the poverty and tough neighbourhood, his mother always found a way.
"She inspired my comedy. We lived in poverty, had a lot of problems but we made jokes about it," Kartelo narrated adding that she was a strong woman, very special and thanked her for all she had done for him, his siblings and was determined to give her the life she deserves.
The Milele FM presenter revealed that when his father left, they thought it was a joke. His father would usually disappear only to come back after a month or two.
"We searched for him in prisons, hospitals, made public announcements even on the radio, he was nowhere to be found," Kartelo narrated.
"At first we thought it was a joke since he would disappear from time to time. He was some sort of a conman, he would swindle money from someone, go missing and after two months, he would be released from prison. So when he went missing, we thought he would be back.
"We took it seriously when it hit two years since he disappeared, and that's when we initiated another search. It has been over ten years now," he recounted, noting that he still missed him and would like for him to resurface one day.
