Gregory Wandati, a Kakamega man, walked across the graduation stage at Kenya Highlands University in Kericho on November 6, 2026, with his mother’s memory weighing on every step — she had made that moment possible, yet she was not there to witness it.
Wandati shared an emotional message online, explaining that his mother had financed his entire education from Doha, where she worked, sending money home consistently until he reached the finish line.
The funds she laboured for, he noted, were still seeing him through even after her passing.
Was Wandati a university choir member?
The timing of his mother’s death made the milestone especially painful.
Wandati had been a member of the university choir during the previous graduation ceremony, and when she died around that same period, he was unable to attend.
That graduation, the one she had spoken about with such excitement and anticipation, was the very one she did not live to see.
What was Wandati’s mum building?
“It’s painful that the graduation she hyped for, she is not there to see her son graduating,” he told TUKO, dedicating his degree to “my queen in heaven.”
His mother’s story had drawn attention before. She had been building a bungalow back home when she died, leaving behind an unfinished structure and a family that depended on her sacrifices.
Wandati ready to step in role late mum played
Rather than let grief be the final word, Wandati set out a clear plan to honour her.
He said he intends to step into the role she played, taking responsibility for his siblings and completing the bungalow she had been building before she died.
For him, those two commitments are not just personal goals but acts of remembrance. Kenyan students whose parents work abroad
“What I will do in remembrance of her legacy is stepping into the shoes of looking after my siblings and even finishing up the bungalow she was building,” he added.
He also shared photographs from his time at the institution, including images taken with his mother during one of her visits to the university, a small but vivid reminder of the woman behind the milestone.
His story captures the quiet weight carried by many Kenyan students whose parents work abroad, sacrificing daily comforts to pay school fees, only to sometimes miss the celebrations those fees were meant to reach.
