Butcher’s Sh12 million house gift

Winner Charles Mutuku Mwenzwa: My wife and I will decide whether to rent out the house or move in permanently. But we won’t sell it, even if we are offered more than its worth. It could help us expand our business or get a loan in future. FILE |

What you need to know:

  • Mr Mwenzwa is the seventh winner of a fully furnished home valued at Sh12 million. The house is located in Athi River in a plush gated community — Green Park Estate.
  • Majengo has been his home for the past 10 years where he has been renting a small house for Sh4,500 a month.
  • The modest one-roomed house is partitioned with a bedsheet to create the illusion of more space that acts as living quarters, kitchen, children’s bedroom and his wife’s sleeping area.

It would take Charles Mutuku Mwenzwa 33 years if he saved every penny he makes each month to afford a house in the posh Greenpark Estate in Athi River.

He would then move in at the age of 66. Mr Mwenzwa makes about Sh30,000 a month from his job at Burma meat market in Nairobi’s Eastlands area.
But his fortunes changed in an instant when he literally struck gold in the Lipa na M-Pesa Shinda A Home promotion.

Mr Mwenzwa is the seventh winner of a fully furnished home valued at Sh12 million. The house is located in Athi River in a plush gated community — Green Park Estate.

Lady Luck smiled on the 33-year-old trader after he payed for hardware goods worth Sh10,000 using M-Pesa.

His is the classic rags-to-riches story.

Majengo has been his home for the past 10 years where he has been renting a small house for Sh4,500 a month.

Situated on the eastern outskirts of Nairobi, Majengo is one of the oldest slums in Kenya, densely populated with low-built structures.

It is prone to criminal activities, and fires break out, destoying the flimsy wood and ironsheet structures.

The path leading to Mr Mwenzwa’s house is narrow and meandering overhung by the distinctive odor of sewage and garbage.

The modest one-roomed house is partitioned with a bedsheet to create the illusion of more space that acts as living quarters, kitchen, children’s bedroom and his wife’s sleeping area.

All that is about to change.

His new home, a polar opposite to his current living conditions in the sprawling Majengo slums, might as well be heaven to him and his wife. He is the proud owner of a three-bedroom house that boasts a master bedroom and a self-contained servant’s quarters — detached from the main house — a garden and ample security.

He no longer has to worry about rent or land developers, only routine maintenance.

ON CLOUD NINE

Mr Mwenzwa and his family are on Cloud Nine. Not even most corporate types can afford to buy a house like this, let alone live in it. 

Born and raised in Machakos in the little-known Kasaini village, Mr Mwenzwa is living a dream. He comes from a financially challenging background, and money was always hard to come by.

His parents could not afford to send him to high school.

It was a typical day at work when he got the call which, at first, he thought was a hoax. Mr Mwenzwa arrived and opened his shop at 5.30 a.m. preparing to serve his customers who usually begin to stream in at 7 a.m. At around 9 a.m. Mr Mwenzwa got the call that changed his life.

“It was on a Tuesday. I did not believe it at first so I gave the phone to another person and told him to listen and tell me if what they were saying was true. They called again and asked whether I had believed it,” he said.

Still doubting, he called Safaricom’s customer care line to confirm whether the news was indeed true. After verifying that the news was true, an elated Mwenzwa boarded a matatu and rushed to Westlands, Safaricom’s headquarters, the very same day.

Mr Mwenzwa has since 2006 been a retail butcher at Burma market, which is near his rental house in Nairobi’s Magorofani-Majengo slums. He lives with his wife Irene Mutheu and two children.

The couple has not yet broken the news to the children as they are away in boarding school. But he will do so during the next visiting day.

Mwenzwa buys cows from various parts of the country and takes them to Dagoretti slaughter house. He then transports the meat to Burma market and sells it in retail portions.

Prior to selling meat, Mwenzwa was a hawker in 2002, selling plastic bags in Eastleigh, Mathare and Jericho estates of Nairobi. He makes an average Sh30,000 a month.

He says he will concentrate his efforts on saving up for his children’s education, recalling that he himself didn’t go beyond primary school and he would love to see them excel in life. He says he will continue working as a butcher, adding that he is yet to make long-term plans for the house.