“It took me 17 years and 114 days to become an overnight success.” That memorable quote from football legend Lionel Messi suggests that we often admire success without comprehending the years of hardship, sacrifice, and unseen struggle that paved the way.

This lesson fits perfectly with the life and journey of Gathaiya Dennis. Widely recognized as one-half of the beloved Kameme FM duo, Gathaiya co-hosts the wildly popular afternoon show “Kwigangara” alongside comedian Ngoni wa Thuita.

He also commands the airwaves on Sunday nights with his country music show, dubbed ‘Kameme Country’. But what is the story behind Gathaiya’s household name and the easy on-air chemistry?

This is his journey as told by WOK:

Humble Beginnings

Dennis Gathaiya was born in the verdant tea-growing region of Mioro in Mathioya, Murang’a County.  A lastborn of three, both his parents worked as teachers. His father taught at Muthangari Primary School while his mother was a teacher at Mioro Primary School.

With his parents working as civil servants, Gathaiya’s childhood was relatively stable. That was until he was ten years old and in class 5, when his father passed away, leaving his mother to shoulder the family’s responsibilities alone.

In class 7, he was transferred to St Benedict Boys’ Primary School in Neri. “It was there that I encountered my first culture shock after tasting boarding school life. I met students from every part of Kenya. The official languages were Kiswahili and English. For the first year, it was hard for me to adapt to the life,” he said in an interview.

After passing his KCPE, he was admitted to Karima Boys’ High School, still in Nyeri. However, life was a bit hard financially because his elder siblings were still in high school. “I remember going home a few times for school fees, but my mother did her best to ensure I stayed in school,” he said.

A Dream Takes Root

It was during his time at Karima High School that Gathaiya developed the passion to be a vernacular radio broadcaster. “I used to listen to presenters like Penina Muthoni Mbugua (PM squared), Njoki Ndegwa, Anderson Waweru, and I thought that I would one day like to be them,” said Gathaiya.

He was also a great reader of magazines, a trait he inherited from his father. “My father’s favorite magazine was called Mwihoko, a Kikuyu newspaper that was published by the Diocese of Murang’a. I would wait for him to finish reading, and then I would take it and read after him. I especially used to enjoy stories by Wahome Mutahi,” he said.

These traits, coupled with his prowess in language subjects, led him to be chosen as the school’s youngest student to ever chair the journalism club.

After high school, Gathaiya enrolled at Smart Media College in Nairobi. The school is located next to the Khoja stage. From day one, his focus was singular. “All my peers wanted to be put in Kiswahili and English radio stations, but my path was different,” he stated. He was determined to master the art of vernacular broadcasting.

His attachment at Bahasha FM, which later became Countryside FM, gave him his first taste of the industry, allowing him to rub shoulders with veterans like George Waweru and a young Larry Madowo.

After the attachment, Gathaiya got his first job as a lecturer to teach radio production and journalism at a startup college that was located in South B. “The institution had only one journalism student. It was there that I got my first end-of-the-month salary of sh 5,000. They used to pay me in cash. With such an amount, there was no need for bank deposits,” he said.

A subsequent lecturing job offered a higher salary of Sh12,000, but came with its soul-crushing challenge. “Throughout my time at that college, I never once got the Sh12,000 salary in full,” he explained. “I used to be paid in small amounts of like Sh2,000.”

When the frustrated staff finally protested, they were all unceremoniously fired. Jobless and unable to afford rent, he was living with his sister in Kitengela. Defeated, he gave up and relocated back to his village in Murang’a.

A job at Kameme FM

After three months in the village, with his dream seemingly dead, Gathaiya’s mother intervened. She encouraged him to try again, reminding him that opportunity lay in the city, not in the village.

With her support, he moved back to Nairobi, renting a house in Githurai to start over.

It was then that he heard an advertisement that would change his life: Kameme FM was hiring.

He hand-delivered his application to their offices at Union Towers. After a series of interviews, his raw talent and unwavering passion shone through. In 2012, he was hired and assigned to the “Kwigangara” show, the same show he hosts to this day. Walking into the Kameme FM studios was a full-circle moment. “I was surprised to find that some of my former colleagues at Bahasha FM were also presenters here,” he said.

Although he has had various co-host combinations throughout the years, the one he seems to have clicked with the most is his current Co-Host, veteran comedian Ngoni Wa Thuita.