Dressed in a brown buibui dress and seated pensively at the entrance to TRM mall in Nairobi together with her mother, Zaitun Adan wrung her hands appearing anxious as they waited patiently. It was now dawning on her that she was the recipient of a cash windfall of Ksh 250,000 that would change her life for the better.
About 20 meters away, Peter Nyongesa stood under a tree shade, scrolling on his phone. A smile lit up his face when the text message he was waiting for appeared. His bank account had been credited with Ksh 1 million. He felt a rare relief as if a heavy load had been just lifted from his shoulders.
For both Zaitun and Nyongesa, the cash awards from participating in the Imperial Leather Oga na Mamili consumer campaign were windfalls that came at the right time.
Nyongesa, a 49-year-old truck driver hailing from Nambale in Busia County, says he needed to raise money to pay fees for his three children’s college education.
“I was stuck, stressing over where I would go to raise the money needed to fund my children’s fees, including paying for outstanding balances for my two eldest children who were already in college. I can only say God answered my prayer for I didn’t know how I was going to raise the money for the fees to settle the arrears and new terms,”
explained Nyongesa.
He added that after clearing the school fees, he will also finish the chicken coop that he was building and
Zaitun, a 22-year-old resident of Rumuruti in Laikipia, narrated that despite qualifying for and being admitted to Kenya Medical Training College in Mombasa for nursing studies in 2021, she had been unable to raise the requisite fees.
How Kenya’s biggest jackpot winners invested their multi-million shillings
“Having spent nearly two years at home, now I will use the money I won to finally pursue my dream of being a nurse,”
she said in an interview, adding that she will also use some of it to pay for her sibling follower who completed his fourth form studies in 2023 to join a college.
In Nairobi’s Dandora estate, Hannah Wambui who has been working as a hawker of second-hand clothes, is now relishing the prospect of setting up a shop and restocking her wares having received a cash prize of Ksh 100,000 in the Fyatuka na Weetabix campaign.
“Having a shop will enable me to spend more time with my two children, the youngest of whom is only 3 years old,”
said Wambui, adding that the cash prize will help stabilize her business and family.
Windfall awards in cash and product kind are proving to be a great relief to Kenyans as the current tough economic situation persists, with education being a primary target of the funds. According to PZ Cussons Managing Director Sekar Ramamoorthy, more than 300,000 Kenyans participated in the Oga na Mamili campaign, ascertaining that consumers are keen to find bargains that will deliver them a cash benefit during the prevailing tough economic times.
“Gratification for most consumers today when the cost of living is quite high comes mainly in the form of a reward that will have an immediate positive impact for them, be it in the form of a product or cash. The latter is however king at the moment,”
he noted.
