Lesson from my people-Kitengela story

I accompanied an investor who was in the process of buying land at Kitengela. During this period, I happened to come across two groups of very interesting people. i.e. the big thinkers and the wannabes.

I was lucky to spend most of my time with the big thinkers. If you spend a minute with this group you cannot help to feel that Kenya is on the right track and an individual can easily achieve financial freedom. Particularly one man whom for this purpose I will call ole Saruni inspired me. He was brought up in deep Maasai culture and he did not care much about formal education because he was program to believe that cows and perhaps land are the most important asset and formal Education was a waste of time.

Reprogramming

At the moment when you listen to him you will notice that he values education very much and he wants to ensure his kids receive the best education even if he didn’t get to finish his. The few moment I did spend with him, I noticed that he was a very wise and informed guy. His advice, especially on wealth creation was sound and practical. He is one man who has been there and conquered it. His difficulty in speaking Kiswahili or English (due to the influence of his mother tongue) has not stopped him from creating massive wealth for him and his family. He volunteered to share with me this two advice that he feels are very important to an individual who is trying to achieve financial freedom.

Follow the money.

You might opt to call it diversification, but according to the context and the way he explain it, I think it goes further than diversifying to being open-minded and keeping your options open. He insisted on one being always alert on opportunities. For example he confessed to me that although his culture largely insist on pastrolism as a source of lively hood, when he wakes up one day and learn that potato growing is where the money is at, he will not hold back, he will quickly do his home work, learn the trade and immediately venture into it.

And true to that fact, he has various business interest e.g. he has ventured into transport business by owning a truck, he buys and sell land, he has invested in flats, he owns livestock and he is also a wheat grower. By doing so, he told me, he managed to sail through the dry season without being majorly affected financially (as his fellow clans men were) even though he lost more than 200 cattle out of his herd of around 500.

Dispose with a plan.

Maasai’s are known to hold big tracks of land. Lucky for him, the land that he inherited was in prime place i.e. close to the road. Unlike some of his brothers he had an entrepreneurial mind and therefore he choose to sell part of his land in order to acquire a small capital.

He cautioned against selling any asset without a proper plan. This he said was due to the fact that, with ready cash it can be easy to fall into the trap of squandering that money. What he does is selling his prime land at let say kshs 200,000 an acre and then moving into the interior part that he feels has potential of growing and buying another acre at kshs 100,000. The remaining kshs 100,000 he use it to diversify into another business e.g. like buying a small plot in Kitengela town where some of his flats know stand

The Wannabe – the other lot

Apart from the think biggers and action oriented people, kitengela and its environ has another side and group of people. The wannabes as I would like to call them also own huge track of lands that they have inherited from their parents.

This group will sell off their land without any other plan and will receive huge payment. After receiving the huge payment i.e. amount of cash that there have never come across in all there lives. You will see them moving from the interior part of kitengela to its local town/centre. They will leave in lodging eating nyama choma in every meal of the day; the more exposed ones will buy brand new big cars, after 3-6 months all the money is gone.

With no money, very little or no home to return to, some choose to commit suicide, others are slowly affected by stress and depression and die a natural slow death, the rest will be influenced by there so called “our people” from Nairobi (whom did not care to educate them on proper investing) to demonstrate carrying placards and shouting haki yetu from the top of their voices begging for the government to assist them. (naomba serekali itusaidie).

In conclusion, I admired ole Saruni lot, most of them have achieved financial freedom and money is working for them regardless of their little formal education. The wannabes whom to my surprise comprise of some of Saruni’s brothers, brought up in the same environment and face some challenge need a lot to be desired, they should seek help and guidance from this other group.