By Charles Mghenyi

Otieno had just cleared his course in hotel management and was desperate looking for a job in the hotel industry.

Fortunately he got word from a friend that one of the five star hotels in Mombasa was looking for new employees as the tourism sector had picked.

He applied for a job and was invited for an interview.

On the interview day he woke up early to prepare. He said a silent prayer that he gets the job before boarding a matatu.

Inside the matatu he sat next to a couple who talked in their mother tongue.

He cared less as he got absorbed in his own thoughts about the interview.

"Samahani kaka (excuse me brother)," the man interrupted. "Tumetoka Tanzania tumekuja kumtembelea kaka yetu (we are from Tanzania and have come to visit our brother)," he said speaking with a Tanzania ascent.

He explained that they had come to see their brother and had problem locating him.

They said they tried calling him several times but the number was out of reach.

They said they had spent three days in Mombasa staying in a hotel and spent all their savings on accommodation and meals.

They now wanted to leave for their country because they were pessimistic of finding him.

"Tuko na madini ya diamond hapa, tumeamua kuuza angalau tupate nauli ya kurudi (We have some diamonds here which we have decided to sell in order to get some bus fare back home)," the man lowered his voice as he explained with a lot of concern.

He told him that he works at a diamond company in Mwadui, Tanzania.

Rich tourists

They said they had heard that Mtwapa, north of Mombasa, was the best place to sell the minerals since there are many tourists who could buy the diamonds.

Otieno examined the stones but he had never seen them before.

He was mesmerised to see them for the first time. ‘If only he could have a piece,’ he thought.

"Tupe elfu kumi tukupe haya madini angalau turudi kwetu" (give us Sh10,000 and we give you these minerals in return at least we go back home,)" the Tanzanian said.

Otieno did not have the amount but had Sh6,000 in his M-pesa account.

They agreed to give away the treasure for Sh5,000 because the couple was desperate for money.

He decided they had to alight so that he looks for an M-pesa agent to seal the deal.

His interview was scheduled for 9am so he wouldn’t be late as this was an opportunity of a lifetime, he thought.

The diamonds would go for Sh60,000-Sh70,000, they had explained. Surprisingly, the couple had a Kenyan mobile number.

They asked him to send the money straight away instead of wasting a lot of time.

After the deal, the couple alighted immediately thanking him for saving them.

"What a fortune, even if I miss the job, I will sell these diamonds and invest in a business," he thought.

He decided to take a piece out of the small bag and ask the man sitting in front of him if that could be genuine diamonds. The man burst into a laughter.

"No! This is just a piece of glass burnt to turn black and to resemble diamond crystals," he said laughing.

Otieno almost collapsed as he wondered how easily he was conned.

Other passengers were attracted to the man’s laughter and curiously wanted to know what was going on. Embarrassed, he decided to keep quite. "You’ve been conned brother," said the man loudly.

How could he trace them? He did not know the place well.

The money he gave them was pocket money and house rent sent to him by his brother from Nairobi. He didn’t know what to tell his brother.

"Ushalijua jiji. Lazima ukae chonjo ama utauzwa (welcome to Mombasa. You must be alert otherwise you will be sold)," the matatu conductor said forcing the passengers to burst into laughter instead of sympathising with him.

He tried to call the number he had sent money to, but it was out of reach.

A sympathetic lady passenger gave him some money and told him to be careful next time.

He reached his destination and alighted. Some passengers felt he was stupid to fall into that trap while others were sympathetic.

He stood there thinking of how stupid he was to fall victim.

He wanted to go back and follow them, but he had the interview to attend.

Furthermore the couple was long gone.

He had to accept that he was conned.