Tom Daktari is arguably one of the funniest and top performing Kenyan influencers in Kenya at the moment.
His success now has been part of a long journey that has seen him encounter difficulties that almost killed his dream of being a renowned filmmaker.
In this article, we outline Tom's journey from early life to making it big on TikTok.
Education and Early Life
Andrew Wambua Mboya alias Tom Daktari was born in Zaikoni area in Kathiani. His family was made up of nine children; five boys and four girls.
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He attended Kombu primary after which he joined St Martin Kithongoine High School for his secondary education.
Getting his secondary school admission was not easy due to financial constraints. He notes that his family sold livestock and received some support from their church to finance his education.
Starting His First Business
After high school, he came to Nairobi and stayed with his brother, who supported him in starting a business of selling boiled eggs, served with mixed onions and tomatoes popularly known as "mayai pasua".
He notes that the business did not do well as he lacked knowledge about it, prompting him and his brother to shut it down.
"The egg business should have eggs, onions, and tomatoes, I just went with eggs and tomato, and customers would ask me why doesn't this one have onions, and then they'd decline to eat," he revealed.
He later tried selling oranges, but that too, did not work, forcing him to explore other options.
File image of comedians; Sammy Kioko and Tom Daktari. [Photo: Courtesy]
Venturing into Acting
After the unsuccessful business attempt, he made his debut in acting starting with high school oral literature where he landed small roles.
Performing for schools was paying, but the money could still not finance his higher education.
His brother decided to take a loan which he used to enroll him at the Kenya Institute of Mass Communication, where he studied film making and graduated in 2020.
Meeting Sammy Kioko
Tom met Sammy Kioko while performing oral literature for high schools. The two did not interact much until after they met at KBC for auditions of a competition dubbed 'Comedy Arena'.
Daktari and Kioko became friends and applied for the Top Comic Show which was won by the latter. Tom was eliminated at the initial stage of the competition.
Following the competition, the two teamed up and started a YouTube channel where they posted skits. In their channel, Tom played the role of a teacher, while Kioko was the student.
The show picked up well on YouTube to the extent that the duo was forced to add other participants to make it more interesting.
Going Viral on TikTok
Tom is arguably one of the leading Kenyan influencers on TikTok. His good command of Kiswahili coupled with his witty nature has made him one of the most sought after influencers.
On TikTok, he has over 700,000 followers and has amassed over 9.6 million likes.
He is widely known for his video clips that address various topical issues such as dressing, investment, and relationships among others.
"Kamą umefanikiwa na nikuulize siri ya mafanikio, wacha kuniambia trust the process, wacha kuniambia tia bidii itajipa, ambia wenzako siri ata hao wapate bahati," he said in part.
