Jackie Matubia Shares Insights into Her Challenging Early Childhood
Image: Jackie MatubiaJackie Matubia recently shared her life’s journey, starting with her difficult early years, when she was labeled a “bad girl” in school.
In a heartfelt interview with Dr. Ofweneke, Jackie opened up about facing rejection and trauma, particularly from her relationship with her mother and the cultural shock she experienced upon returning to Kenya.
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She recounted how, after her birth, her mother reportedly left her in the hospital for three months. “My mom left me in the hospital because I had so much dark hair. When my aunties visited, they told her I was an ugly child,” Jackie explained, saying this reaction deeply impacted her mother, who then abandoned her at Pumwani Hospital shortly after she was born.
Jackie spent six years in London with her father, and returning to Kenya to live with her mother, who had since remarried, was a major adjustment. “I went to London to stay with my dad. Then I came back and stayed with my mum, who was already married to someone else by then. We lived in Kawangware,” she said.
Now at 35, Jackie reflects on her family, noting that her parents haven’t spoken or seen each other in years.
She described herself as feeling like an “odd kid” upon her return to Kenya, struggling to fit in at primary school.
After her KCPE exams, her grades weren’t the best, so she enrolled in a nearby high school, which provided her a sense of belonging she didn’t have in primary school, where her classmates arrived in luxury cars.
Having faced hardship, Jackie became determined to avoid poverty. “I do not want poverty around me because I have lived it,” she declared.
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Her faith-filled upbringing fueled her dreams, envisioning a life with a successful career, a white wedding, a happy family, and financial security.
In 2014, she met her partner, and by 2015, she became a mother. The following year, she married her then-partner, Kennedy Paul.
But balancing motherhood with her dream of returning to acting became challenging. “Life as a mother began. About two years after I gave birth to my firstborn, I wanted to go back to acting and the stardom that I was,” she shared, though this ambition clashed with issues in her marriage.
Reflecting on her marriage, Jackie admitted she often prioritized others’ happiness over her own, calling herself a “people pleaser.” After seven years, she realized it was time to move on.
“Seven years of marriage! It was crazy. It was hard. I remember one day I just woke up and thought, this is not working. And we went our separate ways, even after trying to make it work several times.”
