His mother's last gift made him a million

He fled the slow-paced life he had known in Nakuru for Nairobi. As Samuel Mwangi had been told, Nairobi held the key to prosperity.

So he looked forward to setting foot in the capital city. When he finally got to Nairobi in 2003, all the fantasies Mwangi, then aged 15, had about the big city melted. He was hit by the hard reality of joblessness and street life.

“I thought I would get a job in Nairobi and quickly settle down. I found myself on the streets; there was no job and not everyone was kind enough to offer help,” says Mwangi, 26.

Wherever dusk found him, that became his bedroom and the hard street pavements his bed. Through it all, he met a friend – a hardened street urchin whose specialty was thug-life.

“He taught me how to tackle targets on the streets and forcefully take their possessions,” he says. “It was not long before I mastered the art. We would carry out a job swiftly and get away with it. He put me to task and I wanted to impress him; show him that I too was tough.”

Driven by youthful zest, Mwangi kept at it – until he realised that the work was getting more and more dangerous.

“I wanted out. He cut links with me because we couldn’t be ‘friends’ anymore. But then came this old man, whose name I can’t remember, who helped children off the streets. He took me to Morrison Children’s Home where I stayed for a year.”

Mwangi found life in the children’s home odd. In 2005, he moved back to Nakuru and reconnected with his parents who had no knowledge of his whereabouts when he took off for the city.

“They insisted that I go back to school, which I did. I finished primary and even sat the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education exams in 2006 but could not proceed to high school as my parents had no money for my school fees. I stayed with my age mates in the villages but felt stuck. What I wanted was an independent life – the ability to fend for myself and help my parents live better beyond poverty,” he narrates. 

Mother’s money was blessed

Then the person who would help turn his life around came along - the husband of his late mother’s friend.

Peter Wainaina, the man Mwangi fondly refers to as ‘Baba Millie’ bought and sold second hand (mitumba) shoes. He taught Mwangi to be a hardworking shoe seller.

“He is like a son to me,” says Wainaina, referring to Mwangi whom he took in in 2009. “When my wife was stranded in Nakuru, his mother provided her with a place to sleep. And so when his parents asked that we help him find footing while in Nairobi, it was time for us to show the same kindness they had showed us. I have seen him grow into an independent person who makes money through honest means.”

Before his mother died in 2010, she sent Mwangi Sh2,000 to sustain him while he found his footing in the city. Since the Wainainas were taking good care of him, Mwangi used the money to invest in the shoe business.

“Mother sent me the money. Then soon after I got a call that she had died. I didn’t know it was the last time we would have such communication.”

His mother’s money, says Mwangi, was blessed as he has never suffered from lack of money since. His business picked up and does well to date. And recently, this seed money earned him a million shillings. Mwangi lives in a single room in Ruiru, but he is now a millionaire after winning Sh1 million in ‘Tetemesha’, a subscriber-based competition run by Safaricom. He describes his win as “good luck”.

He has already bought a plot in Nakuru and is now building rental units from the money he won.

Mwangi’s life is indeed a perfect example of ‘from grass to grace’.