A Kibabii University graduate has found pride in his boda boda business and is making a kill out of it. Judge Anyona, who hails from Kisii County, graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Education Arts (Kiswahili/History) and says he is not ashamed of his hustle.
“I come from a single-parent home and my mother had to fend for my two younger sisters and I,” he says, adding that, “The situation forced me to think fast and find means to survive at school since my mother was overwhelmed.” So when the time came to join university, his family sold a portion of their ancestral land and used part of the proceeds to send him to school.
“The land was sold at Sh100,000 and part of it was used to build a simple three-roomed house for my family since the one we were living in was in bad shape. I was given the remaining Sh30,000 to join campus,” he says.
In school, Anyona applied for the work-study programme which allows students to work part-time. He says he engaged in several hustles including selling sugarcane, working in mjengo and making bricks for sale.
Eventually, he saved up Sh20,000 with which he dived into the boda boda business, topping up with a Sh15,000 loan. Despite the hectic schedule, Anyona graduated in 2017 with impressive second-class honours, upper-division.
He has managed to fend for his family, educate his younger sisters and purchase a quarter-acre piece of land where he farms. “It takes resilience and hard work because, without them, you can’t achieve much,” he says.