I can now afford rent, food, says beggar turned trader

He says residents believed he used his inability to walk as an advantage to cunningly appeal to residents to drop him coins.

The man, who has been cripples since he was three months old, had his begging station along Kenyatta Avenue in Nakuru CBD.

"I used my voice to sometimes demand money from people; some gave me whole-heartedly while others mocked me," he says.

Unwanted at home

His life was not always a struggle, especially for a man with 11 siblings and both parents are still living.

Mwangi recalls he was only 12 years old, when he realised that he was unwanted at his home at Maji Mazuri in Eldama Ravine, Baringo County.

He says he heard rumours from his cousins that he was a cursed child after his mother wronged his grandmother while pregnant with him.

"I asked my mother why I was her only child with a disability but she said nothing. My siblings ignored me," Mwangi says.

When he turned 18, he wanted to marry. However, he says, his mother refused to help him get a bride, saying he would never marry because of his condition.

Mwangi started making between Sh1,000 and Sh1,500 per day before Covid-19 struck and he had to close shop.

He revived it in 2021 and even though he does not make as much as he used to, he can raise between Sh700 and Sh1,000 per day.

"I use the money for rent and transport because I sell better without my wheelchair and for food and water. My life has now changed," he says.

Mwangi wakes up at 6am, prepares and leaves the house at 7.30am. He rides his wheelchair and leaves it where he buys groundnuts. In a day he can crawl for up to 10km, he says.

He says his neighbours in Kisulisuli area have been helpful and have made his life easier.

Mwangi wants to grow his business into a shop to reduce his movement.

He advises people living with disability to avoid begging for money and look for ways to change their lives.

Lidya Awinja, Mwangi's neighbour, describes him as a hard-working man who cares about children and his neighbours.

She says he never complains of his disability and uses it as an opportunity to connect with people.

"I plead with the county government to help him grow his business," says Awinja.