Sad incident that made Samuel Githaiga announce HIV status on TikTok

Samuel Githaiga is a renowned Kenyan TikToker. He used the video-sharing app to announce his status three years ago after a sad event.

The 28-year-old told Radio Maisha Wednesday May 15 that he was devastated after news that his best friend had committed suicide over an HIV diagnosis.

Githaiga, upset that he was not able to share his own status with his BFF, decided to use tiktok to announce that he was HIV positive.

“I really wanted to know what made him depressed. He never spoke about it but eventually I came to find out that he tested positive a week ago and couldn’t handle the news and everything.

That is when I decided that probably if he had known I was also HIV positive, he would have opened up to me.”

He is an HIV activist plus a human rights defender on TikTok.

“I decided to come out so that not again lose other people from this because it is normal and I had already survived like 3 /4 years. So that’s when I came out on social media. On TikTok, you show people how to use the medication. TikTok also reaches many people.”

His family also learnt of his status online. 

Githaiga is a high school dropout and said that had he proceeded with school, he would have pursued a career in Journalism or Law.

He was a street boy for two years.

“TikTok has removed me from the streets and it has brought me here with a car. It has given me knowledge in terms of skills, I have learnt English, and I have helped children’s homes. It is also my source of income as well,” he shared about its benefits.

He is a peer educator