Former AG Githu Muigai: If I wasn't a lawyer, I would be a tailor

When former Attorney General Githu Muigai's dad died, the family found the going tough. His mother and siblings had to adjust to life without the trappings of power they enjoyed when his dad was a government officer.

His father then got a job in government in the Ministry of Labour, and moved his family traveling countrywide to serve in his capacity.

Sadly, his dad died after ten years. His mother was a housewife, "My mother was what we called a housemaker and was a very busy housewife. She was raising 7 children. She wasn't Catholic, but she lived like a Catholic."

Mr. Githu said this on Engage Talk on youtube.

His mother now faced with seven hungry children to feed took up tailoring to eke out a living.

"So from being the family of a civil servant a middle-level civil servant living in a good government house, going to school in a good government landrover, we now had to depend on my mother who had who had no skills other than doby -laundry- skills which she had long left behind her."

Githu joined his mother as her assistant where he picked up on a few tips.

"When my father passed on, she got one of those singer machines and that is how she raised us." He added his favorite photo to date is a photo of his mother at her tailoring job.

"I would sit behind her needling, which I can still do today I can do all these buttons, I keep telling my kids never ever have one career. You have read many degrees but please learn from me, if anything ever happened to me I can settle in any country in the world because I am a tailor."

Eliciting laughter from his confession, the lawyer added,

"And there will always be a demand for tailors."

Githu lovingly recalled helping his mum tailor clothes as they eked out a living.

"I passionately enjoyed being her assistant we worked mostly to supply uniforms basically girls school uniforms for girls."

He also opened up about his little-known father.

Githu said that his father was from Kiambu and was called James Stanley Muigai but was born in the Rift Valley. He then explained why his father was born in the Rift Valley yet was a Kikuyu.

"Because my grandfather had left Githunguri their original home because the land density there had shriveled after the highlands were curved out of native land and they had gone into the Rift Valley to live as croppers.

These are people who look after the mzungus cattle and he allows you a little place to grow your crops and to raise your own children."