A mysterious fire broke out on Wednesday morning, destroying property of unknown value at Modern Furniture Pacific, a furniture store in Ruiru Kiambu county.
The store, which is among the most popular furniture shops in Kenya is owned by businessman Gibson Murage, an epitome of grass to grace.
After the fire incident, Murage was spotted at the scene, visibly distraught, as he watched the fire spread through the store, which housed a variety of furniture, including beds, sofa sets, and dining tables.
The cause of the fire is yet to be established at the time of publishing.
In a past interview, Murage narrated how he built his business from scratch, attributing his success to hard work, dedication and focus.
He recalled how he was raised up in abject poverty in Nyeri before his family relocated to Nyahururu. He revealed his parents were casual labourers with his mother working as a cook earning Sh2500 monthly while the father was a manual laborer in a quarry.
The financial struggles forced him to resort to fetching water for residents at a nearby dam to supplement his parents’ income.
“After school, I would make around 3 trips and earn 80 bob daily. That is what I’d use to boost my mother’s earnings,” he told Churchill TV.
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Things got out of hand when the bold businessman was in form two, and was forced to drop out of school due to lack of tuition fees.
When his mother managed to raise Sh8,000 for Murage to return to school, he objected and instead decided to take another life path as he did not want to subject her to more financial burden.
“I told her I didn’t want to study. As a parent she told me to struggle on my own as a man,” he said.
He would later venture into entrepreneurship where he started selling mitumba clothes before venturing into the furniture business.
He also worked at a quarry earning Sh300 daily. He later met his dad and explained to him that he wanted to enroll for a carpentry course.
As a way of supporting his son, he took him to a workshop and paid 10k shillings for him to learn the skill through apprenticeship.
His skills in carpentry saw his salary rise to Sh600 daily. As he worked with his employer, he was once approached to make a cupboard for a client and within a few days he was done.
This earned him Sh4,000. Murage realised that if he could become his own boss then he would definitely earn more.
He cultivated a saving culture that enabled him to start his first furniture business in Nyeri. Murage recalled how he started his first store along the highway and employed one carpenter at the start.
As a man who had tasted and experienced poverty, he kept away from the comfort zone and was focused on growing his business necessitating ploughing profits back.
Today, Modern Furniture Pacific has become a household name for locally assembled furniture with an exquisite finish.
The company has branches in Nyeri, Nairobi, and Nakuru creating employment to many people and contributing to the economy.
“I would like to urge the youths never to give up nor lose hope. Always put into use your God given talents to develop yourself whist also impacting positively on other people’s lives,” Murage advised.
In giving back to society, the businessman empowers youths willing to learn carpentry by offering free training.
