Scrap metal business in Kenya: If something does not kill you, it will probably make you stronger. This is an adage that Hudson Owase Atichi, from Mwibona, Luanda Constituency in Vihiga county took to heart when his parents died when he was in Class Six.
As the first born in a family of six, Atichi was left with the task of caring for his brothers and sisters when his parents died in 1993. Today, Atichi, who was raised by his grandparents is a beacon of hope for youth.
He was the first person to build a three-star hotel in Luanda, Triple-T hotel and restaurant and has made a name for himself in the transport industry in the area. He attributes his wealth to hard work and determination to change his life and give his family a better life.
Atichi knows that nothing comes on a silver platter and everyone who wishes to succeed has to work hard to achieve their dreams. After completing his Form Four education at Esalwa Boys High School in 1999 Atichi had no money to proceed to college.
He went to Kisumu to search for a job in order to take care of his siblings. In Kisumu he landed job as an untrained teacher in one of the primary schools where he was being paid a monthly salary of Sh2,000.
After teaching for one year he left and went into business where he used his savings of Sh2,000 to start a second hand clothes business at Kisumu’s Kibuye Market.
After two years he quit the clothes business and went into the Jua Kali industry where he invested Sh60 million and started selling second hand motor vehicle spare parts and scrap metal.
He used to buy old spare parts and scrap metals, which he later sold to his customers who needed them. However, he was forced to go back home after the post-election violence that rocked Kisumu during the 2007 disputed presidential elections.
After settling in Luanda he started a retail shop and a boda boda business using the money he had saved from his past enterprises. Atichi says he was among the first people who started boda boda business in Luanda, an enterprise he says has earned him a good profit.
He discloses that he started with two motorbikes and within two years he had bought 20 motorbikes, which he hired to youths at Sh400 per day. “From the boda boda business I bought my first a matatu in 2010 at a cost of Sh1.5 million.
They plied the Busia-Kisumu route,” he said. His fleet of matatus increased to 12 and then he closed his boda boda business in 2013 and stuck to the scrap metal and transport business.
He set up a scrap metal collecting centre at Luanda where he used to buy the waste metals from people and later sold them to recycling companies in Nairobi.
Through his businesses he has bought plots in Kisumu and Luanda, which he has developed. He has constructed flats in Luanda and Kisumu in addition to the three-star Hotel, Triple-T, which is the first modern hotel facility in Luanda town.
Atichi says his business ventures have been a great blessing to many youth in Luanda and Kisumu because he has employed over 52 young people.
“My businesses are a livelihood for many including the youths. I have well over 300 youths working for me and the least paid takes home Sh9,000 and the highest paid Sh40,000 per month,” says Atichi.
He is now working on establishing more businesses in Luanda, which will employ more youth to ease unemployment rates in the country.
Atichi, who has completed his Diploma studies in Computer Science and Business Management has an interest in politics and aspires to contest for the Mwibona ward Member of County Assembly (MCA) seat in the 2017 General Election. Atichi says his aim is to transform the brand of politics in the area and not to make money.