The following feature was first published in MediaMax, PD journal.
An ambitious and aggressive consultant, Paul Mungai defied all odds to excel in a field known, at the time, as of the elite kind, despite his journey of modesty.
Now a security systems consultant of repute, Mungai reckons the journey was not always a walk in the park.
“To be fairly honest, a lot of the times I almost felt like giving up. We were not the well endowed family and we had to struggle to stay afloat.
Thankfully, we had each other for moral support,’’ reminisces the third born in a family of four.
After his school sojourn at St Thomas Aquinas Nairobi, Mungai was encouraged by his sister who wanted him to get something meaningful to do with his time.
After a thought, he begun by selling clothes and shoes in offices largely due to his impressive business acumen.
“During that phase,I learnt the ropes of business. On the side, I began attending computer classes where I fell in love with the machines.
This for me was an eye opener as I got to learn inner IT details of,’’ says the father of three.
It was no surprise when he decided to pursue networking and telecommunications technology a specialised courses in which he got critical certifications for.
“This was God aligning me with my destiny. If you had asked me where this would take me, not the slightest idea down this amazing path,” he adds.
The CISCO Certified network associate and telecoms expert was luckily snapped by a firm at the Coast where his professional journey started to shine.
That was to be the beginning of his six year hiatus in the region where he got requisite expertise in the Security Systems and Telecoms space.
“I worked for ServTel Communications for two years (2003-2005) as Head of Networks and team leader before Wilken Telecommunications came calling. For 10 months I was stationed in Mombasa as the Branch Manager,’’ he recalls.
According to him, the real deal came about when he joined Amiran Communications Limited, a multinational part of Balton CP, a British Company with subsidiaries spread throughout Sub Sahara Africa.
He worked as the regional manager until 2010 and was credited for establishing the brand at the COast and growing the company’s market share.
“I literally ran the office from project management, sales, administration, operations and finance dockets by myself,’’ he adds.
Mungai. He was later moved in 2010 to Nairobi and promoted to Head of Security responsible for Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda markets a position he held until earlier this year.
He gained vast experience by working closely with his former boss and an incredible mentor for nearly 10 years. “I learnt great and diverse skills that I would never have learnt anywhere.”
However, the key influence he brought was winning bids for security systems installations from firms such as Kenya Ports Authority, Kenya Petroleum Refineries Limited, City Mall and Mitchell Cotts Freight Limited worth millions of dollars.
“This was a chance for me to understand the business environment and analyse the needs of my customers and create an impact,’’ he says. Indeed his work ethic and ability to build personalised relationships gave him an added advantage.
Setting up specialised Explosion Proof Systems, Thermal-Imaging Systems, CCTV systems and Integrated Security Systems, the first in the country at the time, Mungai got the urge to build a brand for himself and his employers.
He later on twon big deals from Safaricom Limited, The Junction, NASservair, Kenya Power, Kengen, Kenya Reinsurance Corporation Limited, Africa Oil and Gas Company, Great Lakes Container Depot and UAP Tower and this introduced new technologies in his field and elevated the status of Amiran Communications in the market.
A jolt shook Mungai later on and tendered his resignation to his boss earlier this year. He wanted to go out and start his own outfit and be his own employer. “I have grey hair this early because of the pressure I got while working at Amiran,’’ he jokes.