A 22-year-old boda boda rider from Mariakani, Mombasa is the first winner of the Lipa na M-PESA – Shinda 3 Bedroom House Promotion launched by Safaricom last month.
Ali Mlewa Ikuthu, a father of one, won the fully furnished house worth Ksh.14 Million in the promotion that was geared at optimizing Lipa Na M-PESA usage during the festive period and at the beginning of the year.
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“My phone was off when a Safaricom representative first called to tell me I had won, then when I put it on later in the day, I saw a notification that someone from a number I didn’t know had tried to reach me,” said Ali.
He said, “Within minutes I got another call from the same number to inform me that I was the first winner of the Lipa Na M-PESA- Shinda 3 Bedroom Promotion. I could not believe it as I only used the service four times since the promotion started,” he said.
Handing over the house, Sylvia Mulinge, the Consumer Business Director at Safaricom said, “This is a befitting testament of how Safaricom is Transforming Lives by not only availing a reliable and safe channel to have transactions, but also by recognising customers and merchants who use the service.”
“By handing over this house to Ali and his family, we are also empowering them to get ahead in life because they will no longer have to pay rent- or if they chose, they can now generate rental income that will impact positively on their livelihood,” she added.
The promotion targets consumers who make their payments using Lipa na M-PESA as well as merchants, with prizes valued at Ksh.118 million to be won.
14 million House
Two other customers stand to win houses valued at Ksh. 14 million each in the promotion, with 18,000 merchants set to win airtime or cash directly to their tills during the promotion that runs until January 25th 2016.
The Lipa Na M-PESA platform currently has over 32,000 active merchants across the country. Since its launch, the service has received huge uptake and customers can now pay their bills across various businesses using Lipa Na M-PESA as an alternative and preferred mode of payment.