Newspaper vendor who has sold for more than 50 years shares his story

There are two things Peter Macharia believes make a man: honesty and the ability to tell a good story. For more than 50 years Macharia has been a newspaper vendor in Nairobi, he says what has remained constant in his business is people’s desire to hear or read good stories.

People flock his stall and from a distance, others beckon him whenever they think the paper a good story. “When you stand by the road with newspapers in your hand and you see people peering to check the story you are selling, it makes you feel a little powerful. You know you have the story they are looking for, and it feels good,” he says.

He is obsessed with newspapers. At 78 years, he has spent a big part of his adult life perusing through the newspapers before he sets out to sell them. Macharia says there is nothing else he would rather do.

“There were other opportunities that came in between, but they never interested me. Selling newspapers is what excites me,” he says.

He marvels at how things have changed. Macharia says there were times he would be terrified reading newspaper stories he knew, from experience, would shake the country. At that time, there was no social media for people to have discourse on what was happening in the country. Many people depended on news bulletins and newspapers.

“I will never forget the sombre mood that engulfed the country when Tom Mboya died. I was here in Westlands, selling newspapers. There was tension and so many people were asking me questions as they bought newspapers…as if I knew more…I was telling them that I am just a vendor,” he says, adding that consumers always imagine newspaper vendors know more about the stories they are selling.

He also remembers carrying newspapers fearfully after the attempted coup in 1982. He recalls everyone looking for newspapers. Images of the bomb blast on the front pages of the newspapers he was carrying have remained etched in his mind.

Macharia remembers even the little stories, including the one where an abandoned baby was saved by a dog in Ngong Forest in 2005. Macharia has always been among the first people to read major stories.

“Interesting things have happened in this country, and I have been there to sell the newspapers that have those stories,” he says.

Macharia arrived in Nairobi aboard a train from Murang’a with nothing but ambitions. That was in 1963, just before the country gained independence. The Maumau movement was fizzling out. His parents had given him their blessings to "go and become a man." He was 21.

"I was young and things seemed to be pointing to Nairobi as the place where people could make money,” he says.

He started by selling sugarcane at Gikomba market. It while at Gikomba that he met a newspaper vendor who 'lured' him in the business.

“Standard newspaper was popular. Everyone wanted to sell Standard. When I showed interest, I was given a bicycle to make deliveries and that is how my journey started,” he says.

At the time, his area of operation was the greater Westlands region and his main customers were white settlers. The change was happening in the country and they were desperate to know what was happening.

Macharia says he would also distribute British publications such as the Telegraph that they would get from a supply at the airport.

He still sells newspapers at Westlands, along James Gichuru road.

When he started, he says the area was a bush. Sometimes, while selling newspapers by the roadside early in the morning, Macharia says, he would see wild animals pass by. All that has been replaced by towering buildings now, a constant reminder that times are changing.

For Macharia, even though times has shifted many things, including the price of newspapers, there are things that have remained constant. He says from experience if stories are simple, are told from the heart and bear the right sentiment, people will want to listen or road them.

“I have had people coming from different parts of the country to talk to me in their attempt to understand what makes a good story through my eyes as a vendor. I think people love simple stories,” he says.

With the number of those accessing news on the internet increasing, Macharia says, many people have discouraged him from selling newspapers saying will soon become obsolete.

“I have told them never. There are people who are attached to the newspapers; people like myself,” he says.

He has introduced his son Jackson Macharia into the business. James says he saw how hard his father worked, waking up at the crack of dawn to sell newspapers. He was encouraged more when he saw his achievements that came slowly, but are significant in their own way.

“He built a good home in the village. He educated many of his children. In him, I saw what I wanted to be,” he says.

Jackson works in the same as his father. Macharia while he has enjoyed selling newspapers, he has also faced many challenges.

A few years ago, while he was rushing to sell a newspaper to a motorist, another vehicle hit him and he broke his leg. He walks with a slight limp. Macharia says no job gives him a thrill more than being a newspaper vendor.

“I have created very beautiful memories from this business. I get so excited when I meet people who have been my loyal customers on this route for a long time, some for more than 50 years,” he says.

morengo@standardmedia.co.ke