Lawyer with a passion for carpentry

He was popularly known as kijana wa chips due to the small French fries business he used to run opposite the Kakamega Law Courts.

But currently, Mr Wilson Alumasa, 28, is an advocate at the same court.

During an interview in Eldoret, he recalls how he used to sell chips to lawyers, magistrates and judges.

“Operating the business was a great inspiration to me. I used to see how lawyers, judges and magistrates who came to my small stall to buy chips were decently dressed and I wanted to be like them.”

Many of his friends ridiculed him when he shared his dreams of studying law, because he came from a poor family that could not afford to take him to university.

After operating the business for about five months and even trying his hand at teaching to raise money for university, finally his dream came true.

He joined Moi University to study law in 2007 and graduated in 2011, later proceeding for a post-graduate diploma in legal studies.

On March 11, this year, he was finally admitted to the bar and sworn in as an advocate.

But what is more striking about Mr Alumasa’s life is that despite being a practising lawyer, he is also a carpenter, running a workshop in Kimumu Estate, Eldoret town.

The father of a two-month-old son has a passion for carpentry, which supplements his income from legal work.

“Circumstances were very difficult before I was admitted to the bar. The highest pay I could get is Sh5,000 per month, because senior advocates treat you like a student,” recalls Mr Alumasa, who at the time lived in a single room that needed some furniture.

“I went to buy a sofa set and I was told it costs around Sh45,000. I was jobless and I could not afford that, so I requested a carpenter to show me how to make one.

Eventually I began doing research on how to get materials and seat designs. I built my sofa set. That is how I ventured into the business of making seats,” he said.

In the beginning, it was difficult for him since some of the seats did not meet the standards clients required.

“There is one customer, my teacher, who kept telling me to keep on improving and not to give up. She even gave me money in advance to make her seats, which encouraged me,” he added.

His biggest challenge, apart from shuttling between the courtroom and the workshop, is buying equipment for his carpentry. Most of the materials are imported and if a carpenter does not have cash to ship them, they are forced to buy from middlemen who quote high prices.

“I have always wanted to produce seats that are affordable and I always empathise with customers. This is based from my experience,” says Mr Alumasa who dropped out of school three times due to lack of fees.

His father, a driver, and mother, a house help, struggled to make ends meet.

Mr Alumasa, an alumni of Friends School Kamusinga and St Anthony’s Secondary School in Kitale, strives to work based on the budget of customers.

The least a client can pay for a seat is Sh10,000 and the highest is around Sh70,000. But most of his orders range from Sh30,000 to Sh40,000.

From his workshop, Mr Alumasa makes between Sh30,000 in a bad month and Sh100,000 when business is brisk.

He uses social media, word of mouth and friends to market his products with the help of his wife, a trained air hostess and a marketer.

He has found a way to juggle between his two work places.

“I am always in court from around 8am to 5pm every day from Monday to Friday. In the evenings, when I’m not tired, and during the weekends, I make seats,” he says. 

When there are too many orders, young carpenters assist him.

Mr Alumasa plans to be a consultant in future and open a carpentry school. He also credits his success to the support he receives from his wife.  

 “As a woman or wife you should always be there to support your husband,” says Mrs Violah Lagat Alumasa.