2018’s Sh. 208 million Sportpesa Jackpot winner Cosmas Korir has yet again made his name on the news by being visited by lady luck. He was announced the new Bomet County Assembly Speaker after thoroughly flooring his other competitors.
The Sh. 208 million winner garnered 36 votes while his nearest rival, Weldon Kirui a former MCA tailed behind with just 6 votes. He now becomes the 5th speaker of the Bomet County Assembly.
On 3rd October 2018, a 36-year-old Cosmas Korir was the luckiest man in the world after winning Sportpesa’s famous jackpot totaling to Sh. 208,733,619. 3 years later, in an interview with Nation, Mr. Korir shed light on what he did with his money. The interview is available on Nation’s Youtube page titled, ‘The Gambler’s Paradise’.
Cosmas Korir says that the entire amount he won was immediately sent to his bank account as soon as he stepped foot outside the Sportpesa offices at Chancery House in Nairobi.
Receiving the life-changing news
Mr. Korir was driving on his way to West Pokot when his phone rang. The phone call was from a Sportpesa senior official who informed him that he was the jackpot winner.
Shortly afterward, he spoke to Ronald Karauri, the CEO of Sportpesa currently serving as Kasarani MP. He immediately pulled his car to the side of the road to take a breath.
“The caller on the line announced to me that I was the mega jackpot winner. I stopped my car to digest the information I had been given. Initially, as we placed our bets, we promised each other to share the prize money. I will still do the same to my friends who assisted me in the selection of teams,” he said.
Spending the treasure
The first thing that Cosmas wanted to do with his newly acquired wealth was buying himself a brand new Sh. 12 million Toyota Land Cruiser V8. The car still serves him well to date.
He had two friends who they’d circle together and advise each other on how to place their bets. When placing his winning bet, he had also teamed up with them and as a show of gratitude, he decided to hand them some shares of his newly found riches. To each, he gave Sh. 5 million from his lion’s share.
“We were three of us and as usual we sat down and strategized on the teams we should bet our money on. My friends did not have money, so I shared with them Sh200 so that they could bet on five teams each while I decided to bet on seven teams,” he said.
Korir was building a rural home in Bomet. He had taken a loan of 3.5 million to construct the house but he ran out of cash and the project stalled. He injected Sh. 2,000,000 of his fortune money into the house and finished its construction. Furthermore, he cleared the remaining debt that was there from the outstanding loan.
He then moved his money to Eldoret where he bought a flat where he would reside with his family. He received so much advice from his friends and well-wishers on what to do with his money. This forced him to lock Sh. 130 million in a Fixed Deposit Account.
It gave him time to think about his future investments and where to put his money and get value from it. Half a year later, he decided to venture into real estate, buying two flats in Kitengela.
He bought his first flat for a cost of Sh. 50 million and christened it Double KK. When it is fully occupied, the flat earns him rental income worth Sh. 570,000. However, Korir says the challenges of the real estate sector make it difficult to have full occupancy at any given time and on a good month, it fetches him Sh. 400,000.
Seeing how lucrative the first flat was, he went back to Kitengela and bought a second flat. This one cost him Sh. 65 million. It had a mix of 25-one-bedroomed houses and 71 bedsitters, bringing it to a total of 96 rooms. The estimated income he earns on a good month from this investment is Sh. 820,000 when fully occupied.
Cosmas Korir also invested heavily in machinery and bought several parcels of land in Eldoret. He has also built his family a mansion.