By DAVID ODONGO
For the second time, Daniel Murimi has won another million in the ongoing Amaya lottery dinner held on Saturday. His latest triumph comes two months after he won his first million in February when the lottery was launched. But Murimi said he wasn’t surprised.
"I have spent so much on texts. I still believe I will win more money," said the 41-year-old man.
In a night that was entirely his, Daniel also won four of the mini draws, winning himself a television set, a laptop, a shopping voucher and a home theatre.
Daniel Murimi (left), who has won his second million in the Amaya ‘Kwachua Mamili’ competition is congratulated by Roy Brown, the general manager of Amaya, during a dinner held for all the winners at a city hotel. [PHOTO: PIUS CHERUIYOT/STANDARD] |
"The results of the mini draw were based on the highest number of texts sent. It seems Daniel sent more texts than anybody," said Amaya’s Communication Director, Julius Arunga.
"I plan to use the money to build a house. I used my first million to buy land. I will use the second million to buy building materials," added Murimi, who works for the Meteorological Department.
Never gave up
"One time, I spent over Sh80,000 on a previous lottery, but didn’t win anything. I have never given up," says Murimi, who is yet to marry.
The users can participate in the lottery by sending an SMS with specific keywords to a short-code, or a specially designated phone number. The drawings are televised and the results broadcast on radio and television, as well as published in newspapers. Winners are also notified via SMS message.
Branded as "Kwachu Mamili: Become Kenya’s Next Millionaire," the show runs daily on KTN at 6.30pm.
Operates transparently
"Amaya operates transparently. Our Kwachu Mamili SMS based lottery has since inception been offering the public guaranteed prize money of Sh1.1 million everyday and a jackpot of Sh30 million through daily draws," Arunga said.
The lottery, KWACHU 4848, that is being run by Amaya Kenya Limited — a subsidiary of Canada-based Amaya Gaming Group Inc — will end in April when the winner of the grand prize walks away with Sh30 million.
A Canadian company, Amaya is on the forefront of the latest gaming trends by meeting the needs of both players and operators in the dynamic gaming industry.
It is also leading the way with new gaming technologies, including server and network-based gaming, electronic table games with multi-table tournament capabilities and portable gaming. Amaya Gaming said they would use 15 per cent of their collections to aid computerisation in schools, five per cent to improve health care, and another five per cent towards sports.
