This archive report was first published on 27 June 2021.
Published on June 27, 2021, a story emerged about Julius Wanyondu Gatonga, a man from Mukurwe-ini in Nyeri County, who could have been the oldest person in the Guinness World Records.
According to his national identity card, Wanyondu was 137 years old, which would have made him the oldest of the 50 living oldest people in the world.
Wanyondu, who passed away on Monday, was buried at his home in Magaragara village, Mihuti location, near South Tetu Girls.
However, his family's claim has been met with skepticism, with posters questioning whether he was indeed the oldest man in the world.
Wanyondu's son, Jackson Gatonga, 76, said his father had vast knowledge of Kenya's history, which suggested he could have been much older.
Wanyondu had seen it all, from being detained at Manyani camp to losing his three children to starvation while he was still being held.
He would often tell his family about the First and Second World Wars, and the Mau Mau war of Independence.
Wanyondu's life was marked by hard work, including being employed as a houseboy in Nairobi for Sh3 per month and later working for the East African Railways (now Kenya Railways) before quitting to focus on coffee farming.
Despite his advanced age, Wanyondu had no history of sickness apart from stomach surgery he underwent to resolve aches.
