Presidents, the world over, appear to age faster when they ascend to power than if they had chosen other careers but politics. For a stunning comparative, just check their photos during their swearing in and when they're on their last terms.
Take President Uhuru Kenyatta. He had black hair when he won the presidency in 2013. Now he's graying. He looks tired, like a young grandfather on a steady roast red meat diet and stiff whiskey.
Just what does the presidency do to a person? Uhuru was 52 when he became president and will leave at 62. Still fairly young. The same trend of the presidency aging the holder is the case in other parts of the world. USA President Barack Obama even confessed to having grayed in his last term as were his predecessors George Bush and Bill Clinton.
Uhuru assumed office alongside his then deputy William Ruto and the elected fifth president of Kenya, but the same aging is not evident on Bill. He still looks fresh.
The second President of Kenya, Daniel arap Moi became head of state at 54 and served for a record 24 years and hence one cannot logically determine how it took a toll on him. Founding President Mzee Jomo Kenyatta and Mwai Kibaki, who succeeded Moi, took office in their old age. Jomo was 74. Kibaki was 71. Gukas!
Some have credited the reasons why presidents appear different before and after to the long hours and the tension that comes with the job. This is especially when dealing with tough national issues such as in President Uhuru's case, the ongoing campaign against corruption, political and security battles and implementation of development priorities.
Historian Prof Macharia Munene of USIU in Nairobi says the speeded aging is from "being weighed down by a sense of heavy responsibility."
Though he sometimes finds time to go for nyama choma sessions with friends and to unwind, President Uhuru has previously told of how the security protocols around him has forced him to stay indoors after dark to watch news and Nollywood movies with First Lady Margaret Kenyatta.
Kibaki lost many of his drinking friends at Muthaiga Golf Club and Silver Spring Hotel as they could no longer access him.
For years, debate on whether presidents, at least in the US, age faster or their hair suddenly turns grey has dominated analyses and scholarly work. It was reignited during the tenure of President Obama. Within the first 44 days, his hair had turned grey indicating how tough it is to be the US president, the most powerful office on earth.
However, Obama in 2015 dismissed the rumours that running the White House entail for the turning grey of his hair, saying it is because he does not dye his hair like others do.
"The first thing I want from young people is to stop calling me old. When I came into office, I had no gray hair, and now I have a lot. I don't dye my hair, and a lot of my fellow leaders do. I won't say who, but their barbers know, their hairdressers," he said.
Even in Kenya, some politicians are known to dye their hair so as to look younger as age can be an important factor when it comes to elections.