In the hustle and bustle of Nairobi’s Tom Mboya Street an 80-year-old man sits next to the entrance of Njengi House. He goes by the name Jeremiah Kariuki.
For 44 years, Jeremiah has been selling newspapers to earn his daily bread.
Before he started selling newspapers, he was carrying goods using a handcart near Kahawa House to eke out a living.
His elder brother and father used to sell newspapers then. Because of the meagre amount he earned by ferrying goods using a handcart, he started selling newspapers as well as hauling goods.
“The wage from pulling handcart was so little and seeing my elder brother and my father were newspaper vendors, I figured I should also take it up to complement my daily earnings,” Kariuki told the Star.
“My elder brother and my father were very passionate and diligent in the sale of newspapers, this really inspired me. I joined them in selling newspapers and before long, I fell in love with selling newspapers,” he said.
Then, Jeremiah lost his elder brother, John Ngare, in 1986. Tragic as it was, this became Kariuki’s launching pad as a full-time newspaper vendor.
“Even though the demise of my brother dealt the family a big blow, there was no way we would close down the newspaper business. We had to build on the foundation he had laid and make it outlive him. He was already established in the trade with a sizeable customer base. This gave me a much-needed head start to take up the business,” he said.
Kariuki stopped ferrying goods and focused solely on selling newspapers, with the help of his father.
Still going strong
Kariuki has been selling the newspapers outside the entrance of Njengi House, the same place his brother and father used to sell.
There have been numerous attempts to evict him but the neighbouring touts and the business owners always stand up for him.
“People have tried to chase me away from this place over the years but all their attempts have proved futile because the vendors around here love me and always want me to do business here. I also know securing another spot to sell newspapers is a real uphill task,” Kariuki said.
The father of nine said he is diligent and believes hard work pays.
Even though Kariuki is advanced in years, he wakes up every day at 3am. to get the newspapers to sell from Nation Centre along Kimathi Street. He then reports to his place of work outside Njengi House by 4am. He closes business at 5pm.
“I don’t just sell the newspapers solely for profit, I sell them because I am passionate about reading and because I love being well-versed with current affairs,” he said.
Kariuki, a staunch Catholic, said he loves reading Catholic literature and finds reading therapeutic.
Asked if he would choose another way of earning a living, given his old age, he said he would sell newspapers until his last breath. He said he loves his job and he would not trade it for any other work.
“This has been my source of livelihood for decades. I raised most of my children selling newspapers, I still fend for myself and my wife by selling newspapers and if you ask me, I would still choose selling newspapers,” Kariuki said.
Wilson Mwangi, age 46, is one of Kariuki’s loyal clients.
They first met in 2009 when he bought a paper. At the time he was a driver of the Metro Trans Sacco.
“As a young man from the village, I would see him in that same spot selling newspapers. To this very day, he still sells the newspapers. He is a man I greatly respect and admire. His diligence and hard work greatly inspire me,” Mwangi said.
He’s now a manager of the Metro Trans Sacco and he still buys newspapers from Kariuki.
“We even buy the newspapers for the office from him. He is a man who is respectful and knows how to relate with people. My prayer is for God to bless him with good health and long life,” Mwangi said
Dwindling sales
Despite his passion and diligence, Kariuki said prospects are bleak as fewer people are buying papers. They get their news digitally.
One of the first newspapers he sold back in the day was the Daily Telegraph, which promoted readership, especially among foreigners. For decades he has sold the Daily Nation, the Standard and the Star.
“Back in the day, I would sell close to 550 newspapers a day and I would get good money. Currently it is highly unlikely to sell even 200 newspapers a day,” he said.
He said part of the reason newspaper sales have dwindled and circulation has fallen is because people are nowadays more inclined to read epapers.
The future isn’t rosy for vendors as technology has pretty much revolutionised everything.
An enduring spirit
Wilson Kihara, 78, came from a humble background. His family could not afford his secondary school fees, so he decided to try his hand at selling newspapers in the hope of raising school fees to offset his enormous arrears.
“I started selling and delivering newspapers from around 3am. Then I would rush back home and prepare for school. When I started selling newspapers, a copy was going for 40 cents and for each copy I sold, I would get a commission of 8 cents,” Kihara said.
Much of the commission went to paying his school fees and when he cleared high school, he still kept selling newspapers. He said he had already gotten used to selling the newspapers and he loved doing it.
“Once I was through with my secondary school education, I could not imagine forgoing the trade. I threw my whole weight behind selling newspapers and focused just on that,” he said.
He secured an ideal spot along Harambee Avenue, a stone’s throw from Harambee House Annex.
“The year was 1969 in January when I started selling newspapers fully without the commitment of having to go to class early in the morning. The only buildings that existed at the time included Harambee House Annex, Parliament Buildings and Vigilance House. I saw many buildings coming up over the years,” he said.
“I saw the Treasury Building being built, the Kenya International Convention Centre (KICC) and many others. The completion of The Treasury House was a defining moment in my newspaper vending business,” he said.
Upon the completion of Treasury House, Kihara moved from Harambee House Annex and set up shop directly opposite Treasury where he sells his newspapers to this day.
Many government employees worked there and Kihara’s sales rose.
Kihara said he would sell more than 860 copies a day, mostly to employees in the Treasury Building. On a bad day, he would sell about 600 copies.
But from 2009 onwards, newspaper sales began to decline.
The father of four said in light of the decline, he had to pivot and devise other ways to maintain his income.
“The sales have gone down over the years. The newspapers I currently sell in a day is a far cry from the sales I used to rake in years back. I think most young people would rather read from their devices,” he said.
Kihara also sells pens, notebooks, nail cutters, diaries and wallets to give his daily sales the needed boost.
“Despite the present challenges, I am grateful this newspaper vending business is what has helped me sustain my family all these years, I have paid school fees for all my kids, I have been paying my rent, through just selling newspapers. I thank God for keeping me hale and hearty,” he said.
Kihara commutes from Dandora to Harambee Avenue every day. He said he is looking forward to going back to his village to venture into full-time farming by the end of 2025.
Peter Chege, 77, started off as a milk seller at Makadara dairy. He said the company was among the first milk distributors in Nairobi.
In 1969, the company shut down operations in Nairobi and Chege lost his job.
In 1970, Chege started selling newspapers and has never looked back. Based near the entrance of Development House along Moi Avenue, Chege said one reason he started selling newspapers was because a lot of people from Murang’a, where he comes from, were selling newspapers.
“In the early years when I started selling newspapers, I would sell over 400 papers. The newspaper selling business was promising when I started. I raised my nine children and paid their school fees just by selling newspapers. Five of my children are graduates,” he said.
“Nowadays, sales have gone down. Look around, those from the age of 40 and younger don’t read newspapers. I think they consider reading physical newspapers an exclusive preserve of old people. They would rather read them on their phones,” he said.
Chege sells magazines, notebooks, novels and calendars to counter his dwindling profits. He said his greatest challenge over the years has been the Nairobi county council officials who disrupt his business time and again.
He intends to file a lawsuit. He said he has had enough hassle from the county officers who cause him to lose money whenever they damage his goods.
Chege, who lives in Kangemi, said he wants to quit the business due to his advanced age. He is looking forward to venturing in coffee and dairy farming in his Murang’a home where his wife lives.
“I now think it is time for me to hang up my boots as a newspaper vendor,” he said.
