The pauper-to-prince fable has already been told enough. Especially not if you are named after history makers, like Churchill Winstones. In a sense, his fate was already written in the stars, sealed with the cosmos.
But this story won’t make sense without rehashing it, so here goes: Churchill was a shoe shiner. Then a cleaner. He went back to school after 13 years. Now, he sits at the helm of Safaricom Investment Cooperative.
It’s a long way from the boy in Kaloleni, a low-income neighbourhood in Nairobi, rising through his bootstraps.
At his expansive office on Nairobi’s Waiyaki Way, he takes a walk through his childhood, his father’s rhumba music, and how he has come to be just like him. But if you listen closely, he seems to say, everything that comes with you, doesn’t need to go with you.
What do you miss most about your childhood?
I’ll quote Oprah [Oprah the American talk show host] who said she would do things much faster if the hands of time went back. When you grow up, there’s no luxury of time. If you got back time, you’d want to do the things you missed out on now and execute them with speed, whether it is going back to school, because that took me a while—13 years.
What kind of child were you?
Very ambitious. And a leader.
What was your nickname growing up?
Soldier. My grandparent was a chief, and people would march for chiefs. I used to imitate that a lot, haha! Just like a soldier, I like things that are done well, and with structure.
What has not changed about ‘Soldier’ since childhood?
My integrity. And being prayerful. Soldiers pray before they go for any activity, and one could survive or not.
How are you remaining childlike in adulthood?
I like dancing. Rhumba. My dad loved rhumba and slow music.
How are you different from your dad?
I have taken a lot from him—the same handwriting, same neatness, passion, and structure. I like working in organised places, and haste. I have learned a lot and I am different because I am agile, which is a must if you want to scale any ladder of success.
What’s your favourite memory of him that you keep going to?
He loved Franco a lot and Madilu System. I listen to those two a lot, as well as our local musicians like Les Wanyika. I dance with my wife and children, who keep asking me the message of the songs—I understand, but they relate.
What’s the soundtrack of your life right now?
Smooth, sentimental music. Soft music. No noise. At this age, I just want peace of mind.
You sound like a hopeless romantic…
In a way yes, and no. It’s all about peace of mind. There is a lot of noise and shouting and fighting in today’s music. When I was young, I attended a reggae concert and people started fighting. I have never gone back. That scared me.
