Humorous Thika man in trending TikTok videos dies

He earned a legion of fans by his exciting dance moves. 

On TikTok and Facebook especially, short clips of his rotund self twisting this way, that way, left many in stitches. 

Joseph Mbiruri Waweru alias ‘Wa-Ken’ is sadly, no more. He died while on a business trip to Nakuru town with one of his sons, reportedly after a bathroom fall. 

Wa-Ken was the proprietor of Hawkers Pride, which has branches in Thika, Nyeri and Kenol in Murang'a County. He was also a prominent dairy farmer and philanthropist. The jovial man was also generous to a fault. 

"If you passed by his farm at Karibaribi, Thika, you would know what being generous means...from chicken to goats he offered any for slaughtering," says Kameme FM radio presenter Benson Gathungu popularly known as 'Muthee Kiengei.'

Plus-sized, especially around the midriff, Wa-Ken used self-deprecating humour in his dance moves to keep people entertained during social gatherings such as weddings and ruracio (dowry negotiations).

In one clip where he’s dancing to Dick Munyonyi’s runaway hit Firirida, Wa-Ken in grey pants and ashen shirt, swings his pronounced hips and paces back and forth, his stubby fingers flapping to the repetitive rhythm....Tumuonie firirida... Tumuonie firirida..firirida!

“He was a very jovial man, larger-than-life,” says Martin Kamau who knew the late well. “Whenever he entered a room, it beamed with energy.” 

Kenyans on social media have paid their tributes. 

"Rest with the angels Wa-Ken...... I' m shocked beyond words," writes West Kagu Jacque. "Yaani you slept last evening never to wake up this very day. Hawkers Pride in Thika town has lost a great entrepreneur, friend and mentor. I'll miss your dancing skills." 

Wa-Ken was a former councillor of Mang'u Ward in Gatundu North constituency, Kiambu County.