Standard Six dropout strikes it rich in jackpot

A jovial Paul Wawire (right) from Mukhukhuni in Lugari, Kakamega County, celebrates  after being announced the lucky winner of Sh5 million in the Fanikisha na M-shwari competition. [PHOTO: CHRISPEN SECHERE/STANDARD]

By KENNEDY OKWATCH

Kakamega, Kenya: For Paul Wawire, Friday March 20 was another day of toiling and moiling in the fields, as he has done for the last couple of years. 

But on that day, Wawire, who is a sugarcane loader, would receive a call that will probably change his life forever.

He had just finished taking a bath when the person on the other end of the line informed him he had won Sh5 million in the Fanikisha na M-shwari Promotion.

“At first I thought the call was from the usual con artists who prey on unsuspecting Kenyans. I told the caller that I was not going to fall for his dirty tricks,” an exhilarated Wawire told The Standard  at his Matete home village, Kakamega County, as visitors thronged the area to congratulate him for his newfound wealth.

“I broke the news to my grandfather, but before I could finish my tale, they called again. I decided to call Safaricom customer care to confirm if I truly was the lucky winner. You can imagine how excited I became when they confirmed that indeed I was,” said Wawire.

NO SKILLS

The 19-year-old works as a loader at Butali Sugar Company and he has previously served in a similar capacity at Mumias Sugar Company.

“After I left school in 2012, I didn’t have any skills so I couldn’t get a job. My brother asked me to join him in Mumias to become a sugarcane loader. After some time there, I decided to come near home because I missed my grandfather so much,” said Wawire, who dropped out of school at Class Six.

Wawire, who used to earn Sh200 a day, was introduced to M-shwari by his cousin who encouraged him to save and build himself a house.

“I hesitated at first, but later changed my mind after he assured me that it works like M-pesa. Interestingly, I almost stopped using M-shwari at some point when I tried to withdraw money and I was told there was a delay. I thought I had been swindled,” recalls Wawire, who will be making his maiden trip to Nairobi to collect the money.

“I used to save around Sh200 and the largest amount of money I ever saved was Sh1,100. The last saving I did was of Sh150. I still don’t believe this is happening,” he said.

The new ‘Mr Money Bags’ in town wants to buy land for his family and also start a cereals and grains store business.

Fanikisha na M-Shwari Promotion was a partnership between Commercial Bank of Africa (CBA) and Safaricom. Apart from the Sh5 million grand prize, there were weekly winners of Sh1 million.

Each day, 100 randomly selected customers had their M-shwari savings doubled during the duration of the consumer promotion.

The promotion started on February 6, this year and ran until March 20.