What I plan with my new found million-Kocho Kocho winner

NAIROBI, KENYA:  A 25-year-old a roadside food vendor from Eastleigh, Mohamud Abdikadhar Ali plans to finance his education with the Sh1 million he won from the ongoing ‘Shukrani Kocho Kocho’ Promotion.

The third born in a family of ten has had it rough for the past ten years and says the win marks a turning point in his life.

“I intend to become a certified Chef and start a catering business. The money will go a long way in advancing my siblings’ education and taking care of my mother’s medical expenses,” said Ali.

Abdikadhar Ali dropped out of school in class eight due to his poor background. He lost his father at a tender age and his ailing mother could not afford to keep him in school or provide for the family’s basic needs.

He moved to Nairobi from Kitale at the tender age of 15 to look for menial jobs to help his mother and siblings. His current earnings are so meager that they cannot cater for his rent and support his asthmatic mother and siblings. He recounts having tasted the bitter side of life on several occasions.

Ali hopes all these are in the past and will focus instead, on changing his family’s fortunes. Besides being a certified Chef, he plans to start a catering business in weddings and at big gatherings.

Other winners who have joined the millionaires club in the fifth week of the promotion include: Clesencia Osebe Guto, a 52-year old farmer from Kisii County, Nyanza region and Stephen Achola, 37, who works at a children’s home in Machakos County, Eastern region.

Others are Boniface Macharia Chege, 29-year old carpenter from Nyandarua County, Central Kenya region; Suleka Haret Nur from Garissa, North Eastern region and Hesbon Oyiel Ogwangi from the Western region. Nairobi and Coast winners will be announced in the coming week once the winners are reached.

The promotion has entered its sixth week and so far seen more than three million customers from across the country awarded with weekly cash and daily airtime prizes worth millions of shillings.

“We are in the sixth week of this campaign and we are honored to witness the transformational stories from our customers. We join hands in celebrating their stories. We have structured the promotion to ensure we reward a millionaire in each county and celebrate our customers for being with us. I encourage all our customers to keep toping up or transacting on M-PESA for a chance to be the next millionaire,” said Sylvia Mulinge, Chief Customer Officer, Safaricom.