He worked as a dentist in Australia before returning to Nauru to enter politics by 1967, first being elected to the Constitutional Convention, and then to the Legislative Assembly.

During World War II, during the Japanese occupation of Nauru, Dowong was one of the Nauruans taken to the Truk Islands.

[3] He went on to graduate from the Central Medical School in Suva, Fiji, with a dental surgery diploma.

[7] By 1977, he had earned a Diploma of Dental Public Health from the University of Otago in New Zealand.

[3] In 1968, Keke was elected to the Nauruan Legislative Assembly, representing the Yaren Constituency.

In the election, he defeated the first female parliamentary candidate in Nauru, his sister Liebon Sunshine Keke.

In 1981, Keke was appointed as Dental Public Health Officer with the South Pacific Commission.

[19] On 8 April 2016, Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou awarded Keke with the Order of Brilliant Star.

[6] On 19 July 1969, Keke married Ann Elizabeth Buissink, an Australian woman of Dutch origin.