upepo
Elder Lister
In the piece below, Kimanzi narrates his journey into and out of home ownership.
"Hii ndio ilikua foundation ya my one bedroom keja. Sipati picha zingine ni kama gava ilibomoa adi Google drive yangu pia"
Today marks exactly one year since my one bedroom house built on a 40×80 land parcel was reduced to debris in a span of 2 minutes, a project that took a lifetime to dream and ten months to actualize. Owning a home in the outskirts of Nairobi, running a fleet of businesses, having a family, and possessing kitu inanguruma ata kama ni tumbo were my greatest dreams and desires before scaling up the third-floor. Kwa neema, all came to pass but quickly life took a nosedive.
I had laboured so hard for this project, directing each sweat and cent to it. I remember there was a client who paid me 10k deposit for MC services nikanunua materials and paid fundis to do some finishing hapa na pale only to realise in the evening there was no food or money to buy food. It pains me most because of the tiniest steps I made to achieve this. Yaani unajenga nyumba adi na thao, at times you become kanda ya moko a.k.a mtu wa mkono since hauna pesa enough ya kulipa watu. Oooh, not to mention how my wife was overjoyed, grateful, and proud of me when I hamishad her to the new house on 9th September 2023. Tukasema finishing (paint na floor) tutafanya tukiwa ndani. Landscaping nilikua nimeanza kufanya jameni.
Prior to this illegal demolition by the wicked hustler regime, I had quit my cyber and gas business four months to venture into something new and different, which was to take shape in 2 or 3 years and it depended heavily on that parcel of land. On top of that our son Fadhili was 3 moons old and my wife, The Lily of Kimanzi, was recovering from a CS. We were just a month old into that keja bana before being rendered homeless, jobless, and hopeless with zero savings.
That's not enough, my mother, two sisters and a cousin were affected too, not to mention many friends who went through this terrible ordeal. Imagine a calamity inflicting pain, horror and distress adi kwa watu unaeza kimbilia kakinuka. Nowhere to run to kabisaa, that was us last year. Lives were lost too. Our third born sister Aggy was building a spacious three bedroom house while working outside the country for two years, with only roofing, doors and windows left to complete her project. Her house was demolished bila ata kuiona na macho. Two years' efforts went down the drain hivyo tu, sad.
It beats logic how land search and title deed from the very government stated that the land belonged to Aimi ma Lukenya after succession from East Africa Portland Cement. The same government orchestrated this atrocity on us for two good weeks.
Fast forward, I ventured into uba this year and the truth is that uba hasn't been ubering well. Just hoovering around tu to keep my young family alive and sheltered as I recollect myself to bounce back in God's time. That said and done, Kisiagi Man is eternally grateful for life and having had an opportunity to fulfill his dreams before attaining his thirties ata kama the chicken seller thwarted them mercilessly. And finally, I'm retiring to ushago soon, Nairobi hakukaliki bana.
My sister's three bed-roomed house that was under construction and that suffered the same fate.
"Hii ndio ilikua foundation ya my one bedroom keja. Sipati picha zingine ni kama gava ilibomoa adi Google drive yangu pia"
Today marks exactly one year since my one bedroom house built on a 40×80 land parcel was reduced to debris in a span of 2 minutes, a project that took a lifetime to dream and ten months to actualize. Owning a home in the outskirts of Nairobi, running a fleet of businesses, having a family, and possessing kitu inanguruma ata kama ni tumbo were my greatest dreams and desires before scaling up the third-floor. Kwa neema, all came to pass but quickly life took a nosedive.
I had laboured so hard for this project, directing each sweat and cent to it. I remember there was a client who paid me 10k deposit for MC services nikanunua materials and paid fundis to do some finishing hapa na pale only to realise in the evening there was no food or money to buy food. It pains me most because of the tiniest steps I made to achieve this. Yaani unajenga nyumba adi na thao, at times you become kanda ya moko a.k.a mtu wa mkono since hauna pesa enough ya kulipa watu. Oooh, not to mention how my wife was overjoyed, grateful, and proud of me when I hamishad her to the new house on 9th September 2023. Tukasema finishing (paint na floor) tutafanya tukiwa ndani. Landscaping nilikua nimeanza kufanya jameni.
Prior to this illegal demolition by the wicked hustler regime, I had quit my cyber and gas business four months to venture into something new and different, which was to take shape in 2 or 3 years and it depended heavily on that parcel of land. On top of that our son Fadhili was 3 moons old and my wife, The Lily of Kimanzi, was recovering from a CS. We were just a month old into that keja bana before being rendered homeless, jobless, and hopeless with zero savings.
That's not enough, my mother, two sisters and a cousin were affected too, not to mention many friends who went through this terrible ordeal. Imagine a calamity inflicting pain, horror and distress adi kwa watu unaeza kimbilia kakinuka. Nowhere to run to kabisaa, that was us last year. Lives were lost too. Our third born sister Aggy was building a spacious three bedroom house while working outside the country for two years, with only roofing, doors and windows left to complete her project. Her house was demolished bila ata kuiona na macho. Two years' efforts went down the drain hivyo tu, sad.
It beats logic how land search and title deed from the very government stated that the land belonged to Aimi ma Lukenya after succession from East Africa Portland Cement. The same government orchestrated this atrocity on us for two good weeks.
Fast forward, I ventured into uba this year and the truth is that uba hasn't been ubering well. Just hoovering around tu to keep my young family alive and sheltered as I recollect myself to bounce back in God's time. That said and done, Kisiagi Man is eternally grateful for life and having had an opportunity to fulfill his dreams before attaining his thirties ata kama the chicken seller thwarted them mercilessly. And finally, I'm retiring to ushago soon, Nairobi hakukaliki bana.
My sister's three bed-roomed house that was under construction and that suffered the same fate.
Last edited:
