NAIROBI, Kenya, Aug 26 — Labour and Social Protection Cabinet Secretary Alfred Mutua has opened a new window into Kenya’s general aviation scene, launching a flying vlog that follows him behind the controls of an aircraft as he travels between destinations across the country.

The first episode takes viewers inside the cockpit during a solo flight from Nairobi to Malindi, revealing a side of the Cabinet Secretary that is considerably removed from government meetings and political engagements.

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Mutua is a licensed private pilot and says he has now accumulated more than 300 hours of flying experience, turning an ambition he first developed as a child into a hobby he continues to pursue whenever his schedule permits.

He said he had been recording some of his flights privately before deciding to make the experiences available to the public.

“I have been recording my flying adventures and now want to share them with all, and especially you, so that every dreaming boy or girl is encouraged — to know that with God, determination and planning, everything is possible,” Mutua said.

The Cabinet Secretary plans to publish episodes on Thursdays and Saturdays.

“Please come, let us fly together,” he said.

From watching aircraft over Riruta to flying them

Behind the vlog is a personal aviation journey that Mutua says started decades before he eventually entered a flying school.

Growing up in Riruta Satellite in Nairobi, Mutua recalls watching aircraft passing overhead when he was about nine years old.

For the young Mutua, the fascination was not simply about travelling aboard an aircraft.

“One day, something stirred inside my nine-year-old skinny frame, and I wanted to fly one day – not as a passenger but as a pilot,” he said.

A school visit to Wilson Airport while attending Toi Primary School brought him considerably closer to aviation.

He recalled being fascinated by aircraft engines and cockpits during the trip.

His interest developed further through visits to the Kenya National Library, where he encountered an aviation book tracing the development of flight from the Wright brothers to modern aircraft.

“The book followed the history of the magic of flight, from the Wright brothers to current jets. I was hooked,” he said.

Aviation remained in the background

Mutua later travelled to the United States on scholarship and built a career in communications, but aviation remained part of his interests.

While in Washington State, he worked at Spokane Airport, keeping him close to the environment he had wanted to become part of since childhood.

Becoming a pilot, however, would have to wait.

“Many years later, life happened: family, children, career, no time, not enough money,” he said.

That changed in 2023.

Mutua enrolled for flight training at Ninety Nine’s Flying School at Wilson Airport, beginning the process of earning his Private Pilot Licence.

His training involved studying at night and fitting flying lessons around his existing responsibilities, including evening and weekend sessions.

Six months after starting training, Mutua completed his first solo flight in Malindi.

About seven months after beginning the programme, he passed the required test and obtained his Private Pilot Licence (PPL).

“My dream as a young, poor boy had become a reality. I could now fly as a hobby,” he said.

More than 300 hours in the cockpit

Obtaining a PPL did not mark the end of Mutua’s flying.

He says he continued building experience through Ninety Nine’s Flying School and Kenya Aeronautical College and has since flown and trained on several aircraft in both Kenya and South Africa.

He has now accumulated more than 300 flying hours and says he continues flying when his official schedule permits, particularly during weekends.

His new vlog will bring some of those flights to a wider audience.

The Nairobi-to-Malindi episode is particularly relevant to Kenya’s domestic aviation landscape because it shows the journey from a pilot’s perspective rather than the passenger experience normally associated with domestic travel.

Malindi is one of the destinations connected to Nairobi by air, while Wilson Airport remains an important centre for general aviation, flight training, charter operations and domestic services.

Flying vlog could bring general aviation closer to Kenyans

Beyond Mutua’s personal story, the series provides an opportunity to expose a wider audience to a part of Kenyan transport that many people encounter only as passengers.

General aviation operates alongside the scheduled domestic airline industry, encompassing private flying, pilot training, charter services and other specialised aviation operations.

For young people interested in aviation, seeing the process from inside the cockpit could also make flying appear less distant than simply watching aircraft from the ground.

That is the message Mutua says he wants the series to carry.

His own journey took him from watching aircraft above Riruta, visiting Wilson Airport as a schoolboy and reading about aviation at a public library to eventually sitting in the pilot’s seat himself.

Mutua credited his family and friends, particularly his children, with supporting him as he pursued the ambition later in life.

“I have succeeded in achieving my dream due to the support of my family and friends, and especially my children,” he said.

With more than 300 hours now recorded in his logbook, Mutua’s childhood ambition has evolved into something more permanent — and through his new vlog, the public will now be able to follow some of those journeys from the cockpit.