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WATCH: Meet Kibaki’s doppelganger who played with Uhuru as a little boy


Samuel Gicheru, popularly known as Uncle Sam, has become famous in the wake of President Mwai Kibaki’s passing.

His new fame is courtesy of his resemblance to Kenya’s third president.

During an interview with Nairobi News, he revealed that in the ’70’s he played with President Uhuru Kenyatta in his formative years at their rural home in Ichaweri, Gatundu in Kiambu County.

He narrated that a small lorry would pick up village boys aged between 11 and 12 from Gatundu town on weekends and take them to the late Mzee Jomo Kenyatta’s home, where they played with Uhuru.

“When we got there, we would play all over. We would see a very smart boy there…we would go without shoes but they allowed us to play all over,” he recalls.

Uncle Sam recounts that there were animal carvings and swings at the playground where they would run and play until evening, after which they were dropped off back at the town.

He believes that President Kenyatta’s ability to interact with people and his fluency in Kikuyu language is as a result of his upbringing.

“This was a strategy by Mzee Jomo Kenyatta to have his son mingle with village boys. I think it’s a very good way of bringing up a child of that calibre because today Uhuru can mix with anybody anywhere,” he said.

Uncle Sam’s story surprised many people after he narrated how he has many similarities with the late president Mwai Kibaki. His wife is also called Lucy and he also got an accident while campaigning for a political office in 2002, the same year as Kibaki.