• She only forgave him 25 years later, he said on YouTube
Image: Elizabeth Ngigi
Classic 105 breakfast show presenter Maina Kageni says he regrets hurting his mother by not going to university.
Maina left the country to enroll at a college in the UK, but as it turned out, he never set his foot in a lecture hall.
Instead, he switched his focus and began working as a truck driver and fish distributor for some Chinese firm.
His mother was not aware of the development and carried on with Kageni's graduation celebration plans when the time was due. "For the 25 years, my mum only forgave me last year," he said in a Q&A with fans on YouTube.
Maina said his mother had so much faith in him and, unlike his brother and sister, he was given his school fees in cash.
"I ate all my school fees by living large in the UK. My mum found out and she was not happy with me until last year, when she called me home and after dinner, she told me she forgiven me for not going to university," he said.
Maina says he didn't believe his mother had kept that grudge for all those years.
"My mum told me, Maina, if there is something I had promised your dad is that all his children would go to university," he said. Maina's dream was to become a lawyer.
Maina is known as one of the senior bachelors in Kenya. During his show, he has always stated that from the many times men complains about their wives, he is not getting married any soon.
During the YouTube Q&A, Maina said marriage is not for everyone. "Yes, I believe in the marriage institution, but marriage is not for everyone," he said.
Maina is ranked among the highest-paid radio presenters in the country, although he never wished to be on radio.
"The day I will wake up and feel that I am going to work, I will call it a wrap because for me I'm always excited with what I'm doing," he said.
"Sometimes I even wake up before my alarm. I mean, radio has nourished me for so long."