'Lady luck smiled, I hit the jackpot twice in a year'

By Joe Ombuor

For Hassan Ali, the journey to a millionaire has not followed the traditional Indian path of inheritance, diligence and inborn talent.

It has been tortuous, fraught with moments of hopelessness. It has been punctuated by toil — real hard labour that characterises the lives of majority of Kenyans who toil and moil for a pittance, just to put food on the table.

But the millions have done little to change his lifestyle.

Hassan Ali during the interview. [PHOTOS: JOE OMBUOR/STANDARD]

A year after luck and prayer conspired to change his social status from a virtual pauper to a millionaire, Ali still pads it to and from work or rides on boda boda and matatu like the hoi poloi with whom he prefers to be with after a hard day’s work at an Eldoret pharmacy shop.

His mode of dressing has not changed nor the flesh on his long bones increased judging by his skinny face and brow that does not look smoother under a smile. He dresses casually in simple ‘fit and wear’ outfits and has taken no trouble to panel-beat a dental formula that looks shaky on the gums.

The 56-year-old Ali has no qualms discussing his deprived past. "I was born into absolute poverty. Lived through the trauma of a drunkard father who could not raise my school fees. I nearly missed out on school altogether.

"And after struggling through life holding on to prayer and hanging on the skin of my teeth for survival, I had the misfortune of losing my wife and the mother of my three older children in 1996."

After the loss of his wife, Ali says the only reason to live was his children. "They were looking up to me to provide for them. Life had to continue," says Ali, screwing the brow of his face into a wrinkly look.

After a pause and a hard look on the ground, as if searching for his next words, Ali digs deeper to narrate his past life. He tells of how he "literally clambered through life with my knuckles".

Hunt for a job

He had escaped to Tanzania, where his relatives took him through school — up to high school. He returned to Mombasa at age 16, to hunt for a job.

Ali says he started his working career by eking out a living as a help hand in hardware shops, garages and as a hawker in Mombasa, peddling second hand machines.

But the sight of his drunken father troubled him. He wanted to be as far from him as possible. So he relocated to Nairobi in 1974 at age 20. He got a job at a spare parts shop. "The salary was low and renting a house was a hustle. An elderly Indian housed me in his servant quarters."

"It was tough observing my Ismailia faith without giving in to perversions. Three years down the line, I married," he adds.

A staunch believer in the power of prayer, Ali had asked God to give him a good wife who could appreciate his economic inadequacy and spare him unnecessary stress. He did.

Convinced that God would one day give him a fortune, he started buying Kenya Charity Sweepstake tickets. "A ticket was just Sh2, then. I would buy several per month, but the highest amount I won was Sh20. I did not give up but continued to pray God for fortunes.

He was later to meet his fortunes in Eldoret, but what prompted his move from Nairobi to Eldoret?

"You may not accept this if you are not a believer in the power of prayer. One day, while in my routine prayers God revealed to me that fortune could only come my way if I changed base."

My boss was the proprietor of Eldochem Pharmacy in Eldoret and he readily agreed to transfer me when I approached him with the request, citing the desire for a change following the loss of my first wife and a new marriage.

"I left Nairobi on May 1, last year, and, true to the revelation, barely six months later, I won the Kenya Charity Sweepstake Wingo jackpot of Sh2.25 million on November 10."

WHAT A MIRACLE?

"What a miracle it was! I had only Sh500 by the time I received a phone call informing me of the win. I first thought it was a dream. The caller, Kenya Charity Sweepstake Sales and Marketing Manager Peter Njoroge insisted I had won, but I kept on dismissing him as a con.

Later, I discovered that the win was genuine. But that was not all.

"Before the dust could settle down on the big win, and as I budgeted for the money, another one came knocking, six months later. I won Sh500,000 from the Shinda Smart Lottery." Ali was in a daze.

He has since put up a posho mill in Eldoret at a cost of Sh1.4 million, as he plans how best to invest the rest of his money. His wife, Elizabeth, runs the posho mill.

He says his priority is the education of his youngest son, Ali.

"I believe this is the work of the power of prayer that most people take for granted," he concludes. His wife agrees.