'Dr' gets people to chew mukombero at a fee

After being jobless for years, Peter Wanjala decided that business was the best option for him to get out of his sad situation. He did not know exactly what he wanted or what was best for him.

But as he prepared his friend's farm for planting at his rural home in Ebusakami, Vihiga County four years ago, Peter came across the famous tuber known as mukombero.

"I had heard about this tuber and knew its medicinal value as an aphrodisiac," he says. That is when the thought struck that he could begin selling it to make more money than what he earned as a casual labourer.

He went into business immediately. He sells a tuber at between Sh10-30 and because men are too  embarrassed to buy sexual enhancement pills from the chemist, due to the shame that comes with erectile failure he has been making a killing.

Peter makes on average Sh2,000 a day and at times even more since he controls his price according to demand. He says his customers give him good feedback about his product and this has encouraged him in his business.

"I sell to different age groups. You will be shocked to know that my younger customers are surging. My market is huge as I am the only mukombero vendor in Kisumu."

Peter is, however, worried that the habit of public chewing of the plant might render the species extinct and put him out of business.

Though he declines to say how much he has saved from his mukombero business, he says his life has improved greatly since 2010 when he made the leap.

"Most people now call me 'Dr' Wanjala."