Against All Odds: The Fatuma Zarika Story- Part 1
30th August 2018
In the first of a six part series, we trace the humble beginnings of female WBC Super Bantamweight champion
- Her epic rags-to-riches stories has catapulted Zarika to a national icon who was awarded the Head of State Commendation honour last
- Zarika was born on March 13, 1985 to parents Peter Kang’ethe and Aisha Musa in Satellite, Nairobi
- When she was barely seven years old, her parents divorced and was solely raised by her Ugandan mother
- She was left no choice but to look for a means to make money to bail herself and her family out of the jaws of deprivation
NAIROBI, Kenya- Fatuma Njeri Zarika is preparing for the battle of her life in Nairobi when she puts her World Boxing Council (WBC) Super Bantamweight title on the line against Mexican Yamileth Mercado on September 8.
SportPesa News sat down with Zarika and chronicles a six-part series where she outlines the key milestones of her life that has seen her rise from the crime-infested estates of the Kenyan capital Nairobi to the top of her trade.
Her epic rags-to-riches stories has catapulted Zarika to a national icon who was awarded the Head of State Commendation honour last year in recognition of her status as the most-eminent female boxer in the country besides establishing herself as a model example to impoverished youth.
The Beginning
"There is no easy walk to freedom anywhere, many of us will have to walk through the shadow of death again and again before we reach the mountaintop of our desires."
Those words by the late South African ant-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela speak volumes on what 'Iron Fist' Zarika had to endure in her meteoric rise to the top.
Zarika was born on March 13, 1985 to parents Peter Kang’ethe and Aisha Musa in Satellite, Nairobi and she attended Kabiria Primary School for her formative education and two years into her studies, Hemed Musa, the only sibling she would ever know was added to the family.
When she was barely seven years old, her parents divorced and was solely raised by her Ugandan mother before she terminated schooling after sitting for her Kenya Certificate of Primary Education examination as abject poverty in her single mother's household deprived her of fees to continue.
"I felt really bad I couldn’t go on to the next level of my education. I understood that my mother was trying her best to provide for my brother and I. I had to do what I could to help out and maybe make enough money to put myself through school," Zarika recalled with sadness.
She was left no choice but to look for a means to make money to bail herself and her family out of the jaws of deprivation.