A Kenyan man has narrated some costly financial mistakes that reduced him from a landowner to a caretaker.
Duncan Mwanza, a 54-year-old father of three revealed he sold his ancestral land 30 years ago to invest in Matatu business which later collapsed leaving him with zero financial cushion.
As per his narration on Money254, Mwanza revealed that the 2-acre farm in Syokimau was an inheritance from his father. Then a jungle, Mwanza recalled how he had become a laughing stock in his village with friends questioning him what he would do with such a useless land.
He later bowed to the pressure and went ahead to sell the land for only Sh500,000, unaware of the potential it held.
“My older relatives pleaded, “Hold onto it, kijana (young man). Land always appreciates.” I saw Ksh500,000 in my hand versus a dream deferred, and I chose to sell the two acres to a man named Alfred Mbithi, a quiet guy who worked as an accountant in Machakos, for Ksh500,000. He saw potential where I saw a bush,” he recalled.
Mwanza used the funds to invest in Matatu business, an idea that seemed promising. He acquired a second-hand 14-seater matatu for Sh350,000 in 1996. At the time, 14-seater Matatu owners would make daily profits of Sh4,500 and this seemed lucrative to Mwanza who jumped into the business without a second thought.
However, the business was short-lived as he struggled with unfaithful workers and constant battles with police for traffic violations.
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“My conductor, a cheeky fellow named ‘Kevo’ saw me as an ATM. Every day, it was a fight over the squad (daily collection), with him pocketing half the fares. I spent more time checking the math than running the business. Then there were the cops and their brothers, the Kanjos – always ready with a trumped-up traffic violation, demanding a kitu kidogo from my meagre profits,” he narrated.
Maintaining the matatu also became expensive and draining for Mwanza who later decided to quit the business.
“The gearbox collapsed, the differential gave up the ghost, and the engine was constantly overheating. I would fix one thing only for two more to break,” he added.
He moved to Mombasa where he started doing odd jobs to earn a living. In 2013, he decided to return home and was shocked by Syokimau’s transformation into a middle-class estate. Mwanza later learned that an acre in that area was then fetching about Sh12 million.
“My two acres were worth Sh24 million, 48 times more than the measly Sh500,000 I had accepted,” he said.
He also learned that the man who bought his old 2-acre jungle split it into eight plots where he built beautiful mansions for rent. Mwanza currently works as a gardener for his former customer. He advises young people to be patient and look beyond the liquid money.
“Today, I rake the leaves, I prune the flowers, and I can’t help but do the math. Today, one acre is valued at close to Sh36 million. My Sh500,000 has exploded into potentially Sh72 million—wealth I threw away because I was impatient for immediate cash flow,” he said.
“My young friends, especially those of you just starting out in life, don’t make my mistake. Don’t chase the small, immediate liquidity at the expense of big, long-term assets,” he advised.
