That a professor of epidemiology could take part in an odd competition like weightlifting was sure to leave Kenyans’ mouths agape.

Added to the fact that the mother of four and grandmother of two is a few days shy of her 58th birthday (she was born on October 26, 1961, like President Uhuru Kenyatta), the result was an internet sensation.

That is why a photograph of Prof Elizabeth Bukusi, chief research officer at the Kenya Medical Research Institute (Kemri), has been doing the rounds on social media in the past week.