Isuzu Archives

The bitter-sweet relationship a first car owner has to endure

Posted on November 9, 2020November 9, 2020 by Kibaki Muthamia

Everyone has a teary story about their first car.

He’ll often tell it with a longing in his voice, a soulful lull on his lips and a far-off gaze in his eyes. This is a relationship smelt and blended in metal, full of heart breaks and God’s mercy.

First cars are the true personification of selfless sacrifice.

Someone will frequent a yard sale, and fall in love with a piece of mid 70’s junk. At this stage, budget is always breadline – a fruitful end to months of savings. To say a lifetime of skipping fun with friends for extra jobs to earn some coins doesn’t give it enough credence.

The resuscitating mechanic is usually a cousin working pro bono, or an indefatigable uncle who somehow believes in your dreams. By God’s grace, the car will start running.

You park it outside your bedroom window, and you spend half the night staring at it in the half-light. The first task in the morning is the day-long wash and scrub.

You possess used tires at a bargain from the neighborhood garage for a start. It’s time to roll.

It’s heavenly, picking up a couple of friends for a drive, to the soccer game. The look on their faces are priceless, especially since some are a year or two older. The girls start to take notice of the silent kid.

The interior may be ripped, stained and smelly.

No matter that it uses a liter of transmission oil every 50 miles.

The stereo kicked the bucket a few decades back, and the dials don’t even turn.

The rickety piece of junk constantly has a billowing cloud of black smoke following behind.

The one prayer on your lips on the entire trip is that the rains do not start, for the wipers do not work.

Your best friend hogs the shotgun seat, and keeps his sneakers firmly planted on the hole on the floor – lest water from the puddles on the road splash inside.

Nobody will say a word.

Nobody will even say a word about the non-functional reverse gear. That part of the transmission packed up ages ago. They are just impressed that you own a car, and driving it.

You wouldn’t care, anyways.

That piece of junk meant no more queues at bus stops (at the mercy of pick pockets). No more begging parents for rides. No more places you couldn’t go – Ok, let’s say within a 20-mile (walking) radius from home.

That car represented FREEDOM!

If only people were so easy to impress today!

That was in the mid 90’s. It’s neither here nor there, but everything has greatly turned out for the better. It’s not just in car engineering, with better transmissions and inline or slanting cylinders – but, also in the economics of car ownership.

Presently, it’s as easy as ABC, to own a ride, brand new. It doesn’t matter if the need is business-driven or family-oriented, one can drive home.

Co-op Bank has the special Motor Vehicle Purchase Schemes established with major motor vehicle dealers, Isuzu East Africa Ltd.

This is structured to enable Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) acquire vehicles they need with an incredible 95% funding, under the Biashara Iendelee na Isuzu financing deal.

As a plus, business people have the liberty to apply an additional working capital of Ksh. 300,000.00, and a loan repayment holiday of 60 days.

One can visit any Co-op Bank branch across the country to get more info on this deal, or check Biashara Iendelee na Isuzu promotion online

Click here from the comfort of your office or home.

What’s the most remarkable story you’ve heard from a long-distance truck driver?

Posted on October 31, 2020 by Kibaki Muthamia

My name is Ali, and I’ve always been a motor head. I literally grew up in an auto garage. I got used to hot radiator steam burns, oil spillages, gaskets, crankshafts, turbo heads and God know what else under the hood – before I could walk.

My father ran a family garage, and his father before him. I could drive before I learnt the alphabet, and, frankly speaking, missing school wasn’t a big deal, then. But, a careless oil smudge on a client’s car upholstery would earn you a fearsome spanking. Or, a misplaced rotary spanner head.

The family dinner table wasn’t the classic family dinner table. Heck, we didn’t even have a dinner table. We’d eat, sprawled on the patchy garage floor littered with pieces of a dis-bowelled engine.

There was a bare yellow bulb hanging high from the rafters – and, sometimes it would blow out. It’d be days before anyone replaced it.

But the moments were magical. I’d spend hours listening to father rattle about this or that engine part. He’d periodically have 3 or 4 apprentices learning from him. He wouldn’t charge learning fees, lots of times it’d be returning favors owed to their fathers. Or, something else.

At one point, there’s an apprentice who spent months in our garage – and when he stopped coming, we wouldn’t know how to trace him. No one knew his name.

A beautiful section of The Great North Road

Well, I didn’t attend high school. I opted for a driving and mechanic course at the local Eldoret Polytechnic. For the papers. I already knew more about engines than they could ever teach me. It was both fun and exhausting.

Have you ever sat through a terrific story you’ve heard a few hundred times before? Well, that kind of fun and exhausting.

Fast forward a decade, and, a half. Perhaps. The garage still runs, and my father is semi-retired. Which means he likes to hover over my kid brother as he takes care of client’s engines. Kind of explains kiddo always got earphones on, blasting away.

I could never sit still, and engines are engines, anyway. I preferred driving, and took that up as my vocation.

Since then, I’ve been driving all over Africa for different clients. I have been in everything from commercial trucks and buses, Safari tour vans to executive, luxury cabs. My love, though, lies in long-distance trucking. Big, high-riding trucks.

A lot of remarkable experiences happen in these long transit runs.

For instance, while with Red Cross, I was doing the Isiolo-Moyale-Marsabit Road to deliver supplies to a charity outpost on the Ethiopian border. This was a newly tarmacked road, into a hitherto unexplored hinterland. Travel enthusiasts were a dime a dozen doing road trips, and camping.

I had been on that road a few times, and it was an endless piece of obscurity – “Oh, look, more sand…..” ain’t that exciting, right? The road, though was beautiful. A straight line of flawless bitumen, and few cars.

On that day, just past Merille – a dusty, hot town just before Marsabit, an open-back pickup truck pulls up. We are not speeding. My truck is high up – am in an Isuzu FSR – so I can look down on the pickup. It’s an Isuzu D-Max.

It seems like a family, the man is driving, alone in the cabin. Nothing odd about that. What gave me a ‘WHAAAT’ moment, was that the lady was in the rear, open part – and a little boy is propped up on a mattress and cushions just behind the driver’s cabin.

She is slicing tomatoes onto a pan. As they pass, I notice what seems like a modern kitchen-full worth of fittings on that rear part.

Is the man driving as the wife cooks in the rear? Like, is this a family road trip idea?

A little ways down the road, I notice the Isuzu D-Max parked on the roadside. The family is sitting down to a hot meal! They wave, as I blow my air horn……..

A perfect family moment, on the road!

***************

Co-op Bank has a vehicle financing deal with Isuzu – , dubbed ‘Biashara Iendelee na Isuzu – that gives clients up to 95% funding on selected vehicle brands to boost Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).

These are versatile lorry and pick-up trucks ideal for business, from Isuzu Kenya.

If they wish, clients can also apply for a Ksh.500,000 working capital facility to ride out the crippling Covid-19 season. Other exciting perks is the 60 day grace period, a negotiated motor vehicle insurance cover and the longest, flexible re-payment periods in the market – 5 years.

I hope more families with a knack for road trips gets wind of this deal.

Visit the nearest Co-op Bank branch, or click here for inquiries about Biashara Iendelee na Isuzu.

What does a business owner need to acquire a brand-new Isuzu truck and additional working capital?

Posted on October 22, 2020 by Kibaki Muthamia

For most business owners, a significant portion of the overheads arise in logistics. Moving new stock from the source to the market or between warehouses and making deliveries. There’s also a lot of costly risks in outsourcing transport.

To seal this loophole, business owners need a formidable financial partner.

Co-op Bank has the special Motor Vehicle Purchase Schemes established with major motor vehicle dealers, Isuzu East Africa Ltd and Simba Corporation Group. This is structured to enable Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) acquire vehicles they need at highly negotiated terms.

These are the requirements needed to secure Biashara Iendelee na Isuzu financing:

6 months’ bank statements: (Non Co-op Bank clients) Mpesa statements are an added advantage. 1 year statements for seasonal/contractor business OR schools
Copy of ID/passport for all applicants/directors/officials
Copy of KRA pin certificates
Business registration certificate
Duly filled Asset finance application form, include working capital form
Limited Companies: Certificate of Incorporation, PIN, Memo & Articles of Association, annual returns
Saccos: PIN, Certificate of Registration, Registered borrowing powers, minutes authorizing the borrowing, minutes appointing officials
Copies of contracts where applicable
Pro forma Invoice
For amounts above 10 million: 3 years audited accounts, latest management accounts

In addition, the package comes with:

A working capital of Ksh 300,000/=
A 60-day repayment holiday on the loan
A comprehensive insurance package priced at 4.75% of the vehicle value (that includes political violence & terrorism)
Insurance Premium Financing which allows you to pay insurance premiums in easy instalments
1% processing fee

This is a way to overcome logistic challenges. To address them and achieve success via this scheme, visit any one of the 150 Co-op Bank branches across the country. The solution is within reach.

To check the Biashara Iendelee na Isuzu promotion online from the comfort of your office or home, click here!

What best describes the feeling of getting to your house after a long day at work?

Posted on September 24, 2020 by Kibaki Muthamia

After a hard day’s hustle, and errands – what’s the first thing you do when you get into your house?

Kick off the irksome heels?

Flop on the stained coach and switch on the thumping music system?

Unclip tight clothing to free long-suffering appendages?

There’s no place like home. This is your personal space – you can be you.

It matters not if it’s a sprawling estate on endless acreage fraught with servants, or, a tiny, cramped, windowless box in a maze of floors and staircases somewhere in the city.

This is home, and there’s nowhere else the heart would rather be. And, these are just urban rentals. The homeowners are usually on another, higher level.

Have you seen how hard faces and hearts melt into emotional mirages when discussing the journey to building the first home?

The first home is often a rewarding culmination of an intense journey of endless personal sacrifice, sweat, blood and tears. The patience and inner drive needed to transform a barren piece of rocky land into a haven of dreams, is not a mean feat – and it’s painstakingly slow – akin to pulling out multiple bee stings.

Also Read: https://www.ghafla.com/sponsored/co-op-bank-partners-with-isuzu-and-simba-colt-to-stir-the-motoring-industry-with-an-incredible-95-vehicle-financing-scheme/

In between dishonest building crews bent on fleecing by overcharging for supplies and inflating the casuals tally, most home builders contend with taxing day jobs. Site supervision is relegated to multiple calls to the foreman – energy sapping and financially draining.

And, no, hiring a relative as a supervisor at your building site always ends in tears – and, irreparable family damages.

To fill in this gap, numerous construction firms have been formed. Depending on the level of work, these firms usually charge a percentage higher – but, all factors held constant – it’s the safer bet for the busy corporate home builder.

Along the Kenyan coastal zone, one building firm stands out – Riziki Home Solutions.

Interestingly, Riziki Home Solutions is lady-owned, and ran. This firm has steadily created a comfortable niche in residential and business structure development. As it is, once a potential home owner signs a contract and settles half of the agreed final payment, the firm handles every aspect of the process – from ground breaking to final touches – within an agreed time frame.

There’s some truth in the adage that what a man can do a woman can do twice better.

The firm is staffed with lady professionals, from architects, civil engineers and all craftsmen in between. Read plumbers, electricians, interior décor and landscaping experts.

Riziki Home Solutions Director, one Ms. Sarah Riziki doesn’t mince words, in her swivel leather seat behind a swarthy mahogany desk in her spacious office on the mezzanine floor, on one office block off Nkrumah Road.

“We started off as a tiny cowboy outfit – with the bare minimum we needed to make a successful project – one architect, one engineer, one plumber, et al. At the time, we all had day jobs till we ran the first few projects. We all quit and got into it fulltime” Says Ms. Sarah.

“Thanks to a solid financial partner, Co-op Bank, we’ve been able to expand, and build a credible working reputation”.

As we speak, Riziki Home Solutions is taking advantage of the Biashara Indelee Na Isuzu Campaign.

Co-op Bank has partnered with Isuzu and Simba Colt in a vehicle financing deal that gives clients up to 95% funding on selected vehicle brands to boost Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).

The construction firm has signed up for a fleet of Isuzu trucks and pick-ups: the TFR series, the N-series NHR; and the F-Series models – FRR, FSR.

The Biashara Iendelee Na Isuzu Campaign also allows clients a Ksh.500,000 working capital facility, a 60 day repayment-grace period, a negotiated motor vehicle insurance cover and the longest, flexible re-payment periods in the market – 5 years.

Get home and kick off your heels, enjoy your personal space and just be yourself.

This is home.

This is how cereal, fruit & vegetable traders get easy financing for brand new trucks to ferry produce, cut transit losses and irksome middlemen

Posted on September 21, 2020 by Kibaki Muthamia

Do you know why bananas are a sure fixture in the breakfast basket in every hotel? Or, in your own kitchen, or sneaked into your school lunch basket?

The fruit is loaded with healthy benefits. It’s loaded with fibre – both soluble and insoluble.

The soluble fiber has the tendency to slow down digestion and keep you feeling full for a longer time.

In Nairobi, and other major towns across the region, the banana is the fastest moving fruit in grocery stalls, street vendors and supermarket fruit stands. Its available all year round, and a common staple in most households.

The versatility is boundless.

Ripe? You game.

Chopped and tagged with other fruits as pudding? Even better.

Peeled raw and chopped into tire shapes and fried? Who doesn’t miss that cuisine?

The banana also features heavily in every urban bachelor’s dwelling. Its affordable – and a high -energy fruit.

In Kenya, many regions grow bananas. The richest, though, and famous for their banana-cultured lifestyles, are the Kisii people. In hot pursuit is the Meru region.

The banana trade is booming, but the blunt edge is borne by traders – on the transport part. It’s really hectic. But necessity is the mother of innovation, right?

In banana-rich Kisii and Meru region, traders have joined up to form empowerment groups. This enables them to pool resources and hire a single hauling truck, as opposed to the previous trend to just source for available transport at the main markets.

One step further, is that these trading groups have evolved to be financial outfits, and got duly registered. Each member has a membership number to the group, and deposits money directly to the group’s central account.

For Co-op Bank, these trader groups enjoy customized services, and expert financial advice. The bank has assiste4d the group acquire Safaricom till numbers that deposit money directly to the group’s account.

Despite the prevailing financial melt-down spurred by the pandemic, Co-op Bank has renewed a vehicle financing deal financing deal that is set to empower such registered groups – like, the banana traders.

The Biashara Iendelee campaign deal gives clients up to 95% funding on selected vehicle brands to boost Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).

These are versatile lorry and pick-up trucks ideal for business, from Isuzu Kenya and Simba Colt.

For Isuzu, models available are: Pickups – TFS & TFR series. Trucks: N-series Models – NHR, NKR, NQR, NPR; Isuzu F-Series models – FRR, FSR.

For Simba Colt, Co-op Bank clients can pick the versatile Mitsubishi Canter FE 71, 84,85CG, 85CH, Mitsubishi Trucks and assorted Mitsubishi Pickups.

If they wish, these groups can also apply for a Ksh.500,000 working capital facility to ride out the crippling Covid-19 season. Other exciting perks is the 60 day loan-grace-period, a negotiated motor vehicle insurance cover and the longest, flexible re-payment periods in the market – 5 years.

There’s really no need for your group to incur losses due to delayed transport from the farm to the market – NO MATTER THE DISTANCE!

Fancy a brand new Isuzu, or, Mitsubishi truck for your business? It’s now very easy!

Posted on September 14, 2020 by Kibaki Muthamia

For an entrepreneur in a seasonal business, or, a businessman in a contractor-based project and need reliable, financial motivation, there is a bit of good tidings in store.

Do you run a private school – and, needs to prep up for operations when the learning program is back?

You need to know that Co-operative Bank has renewed for the fifth year running the special Motor Vehicle Purchase Schemes established with major motor vehicle dealers, Isuzu East Africa Ltd and Simba Corporation Group. This is structured to enable Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) acquire vehicles they need at highly negotiated terms.

With the Biashara Indelee na Isuzu promotion, one enjoys up to 95% funding for the vehicle of choice. Also, you can choose to attain additional funding for up to 500, to boost business operations.

Incredibly, the package affords your business a 6 month grace period to start making the payments.

Vehicle models under the Special Scheme for Isuzu are Pickups – TFS & TFR series, Isuzu N-series Models – NHR, NKR, NQR, NPR; Isuzu F-Series models – FRR, FSR.

Simba Colt are offering Mitsubishi Canter FE 71, 84,85CG, 85CH, Mitsubishi Trucks and Mitsubishi Pickups.

These are the requirements needed to secure Biashara Iendelee na Isuzu financing:

6 months’ bank statements: (Non Co-op Bank clients) Mpesa statements are an added advantage. 1 year statements for seasonal/contractor business OR schools
Copy of ID/passport for all applicants/directors/officials
Copy of KRA pin certificates
Business registration certificate
Duly filled Asset finance application form, include working capital form
Limited Companies: Certificate of Incorporation, PIN, Memo & Articles of Association, annual returns
Saccos: PIN, Certificate of Registration, Registered borrowing powers, minutes authorizing the borrowing, minutes appointing officials
Copies of contracts where applicable
Pro forma Invoice
For amounts above 10 million: 3 years audited accounts, latest management accounts

In addition, the package comes with:

A working capital of Ksh 300,000/=
A 60-day repayment holiday on the loan
A comprehensive insurance package priced at 4.75% of the vehicle value (that includes political violence & terrorism)
Insurance Premium Financing which allows you to pay insurance premiums in easy instalments
1% processing fee

Each business has unique challenges. To address them and achieve success, visit any one of the 150 Co-op Bank branches across the country. The solution shall be met with equal zeal.

To check the Biashara Iendelee na Isuzu promotion online, click here.

What’s the weirdest experience you’ve had travelling long-distance on a public bus?

Posted on September 11, 2020 by Kibaki Muthamia

Who doesn’t love a long road trip?

The endless open road, favorite jams and binge-ing on junk with a loved one.

If one is lucky, a spontaneous fight with the significant other over some useless trivia from weeks ago – that results to a few miles of tarmac in total silence – as each goes over the minute merits and de-merits of dating a complete Neanderthal …….

It’s never that serious, right?

Endless miles staring at gaping cornfields and bare-chested farm workers often lead to a wise, epiphany moment – and you always make up!

But, have you had a chance to travel long distance on public transport?

On the long distance, overnight buses, it’s easy to be a complete idiot. Something takes over the minds and personalities of otherwise rational citizens to transition them to undesirable versions of themselves.

Is it the caging feel? It can be overwhelming for natural free birds.

Most overnight buses are severely sealed and air-conditioned. Free birds seek refuge in some sort of protest. Is it the scented air of the bus cabins – tainted with a variety of individual smells – garlic, alcohol, strong perfumes and, of course, body sweats?

Whatever it is, people act weird and irritable.

Once in a while, though, these night travel buses have been the source of very inspiring stories.

Lifelong friendships and even marriages have started with a mere, random seating arrangement. Getting stuck with someone for long periods sometimes leads to honest one-to-one conversations – meeting new friends, and networking.

On a personal front, an eye-opening encounter happened in November 2019.

The pandemic hadn’t yet gained traction in East Africa, and business was still bustling – gearing up for the Christmas festivities.

On this day, I was booked on a 10 PM bus from Nairobi to Mombasa. It wasn’t the high-end, air-conditioned class. Just a regular commuter mini bus. The firm is cheap, but has a reputation for reliability. For this reason, it’s the favorite for the market traders, fondly referred to as Mama Mboga’s.

On this day, I chanced upon a trader – supplied bananas, oranges and whatever other fruits are in season – from inland to the coastal city. She was talkative, and opened up quite fast. In less than an hour, she’d talked of her supportive chama, her family, her clan and, thankfully, her business.

It’s the business part that inspired me.

After half a year saving with her chama – which had a central account at Co-op Bank – she’d taken a chama loan. She’d partnered with a colleague and started buying seasonal fruits in bulk, to sell at the coastal areas.

They’d been in a promising business streak for a few weeks. Never underestimate the reach of ambitious women. In just two months, they’d repaid their chama loans.

The challenges they faced?

Top of the list was the uncertainty with the cargo lorries. They’d load at Ngara Market, then follow up on the night buses to rendezvous with the lorry at the main coastal market at dawn – Kongowea.

Sometimes, delays on the road happened. The lorry crew would hike fees. The fruit cargo would naturally go bad. Transport was their main headache.

I dozed off at some point, after the Mtito Andei stop-over.

I wish I’d picked her contacts. I’d be glad call her about an exciting opportunity that could solve her transport challenges, as a long time Co-op Bank client, dubbed ‘Biashara Iendelee’.

Co-op Bank has a vehicle financing deal with Isuzu and Simba Colt that gives clients up to 95% funding on selected vehicle brands to boost Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).

These are versatile lorry and pick-up trucks ideal for business, from Isuzu Kenya and Simba Colt.

I hope Mama Mboga gets wind of this deal.

Visit the nearest Co-op Bank branch, or click here, to learn more of this business deal.

Must Read: https://www.ghafla.com/sponsored/did-you-know-that-a-piggy-bank-for-your-kids-has-an-immense-impact-in-their-adult-years/

Co-op Bank partners with Isuzu and Simba Colt to stir the motoring industry with an incredible 95% vehicle financing scheme

Posted on September 9, 2020 by Kibaki Muthamia

Co-operative Bank has renewed for the fifth year running the special Motor Vehicle Purchase Schemes established with major motor vehicle dealers, Isuzu East Africa Ltd and Simba Corporation Group, to enable Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) acquire the vehicles they need at highly negotiated terms.

This special scheme makes the process of buying vehicles most affordable, with the bank financing up to 95 per cent of the purchase price.

In addition, customers can apply for a Ksh.500,000 working capital facility to support their businesses especially at this difficult Covid-19 season. The loan has one of the longest re-payment periods in the market – 5 years, and further has a 60 days’ grace period and a negotiated motor vehicle insurance cover.

Head of Business Banking, Co-operative Bank, Mr. Moses Gitau said:

“As partners, we had to renew this joint scheme due to its huge popularity among SMEs, who have told us the scheme is currently the most affordable means of acquiring a wide selection of vehicles such as the popular Isuzu TFR and Mitsubishi Fuso, for their various transport needs.”

Vehicle models under the Special Scheme for Isuzu are Pickups – TFS & TFR series, Isuzu N-series Models – NHR, NKR, NQR, NPR; Isuzu F-Series models – FRR, FSR.

Simba Colt are offering Mitsubishi Canter FE 71, 84, 85CG, 85CH, Mitsubishi Trucks and Mitsubishi Pickups.

SMEs and other business customers are invited to apply for this special motor vehicle purchase scheme at any of the 155 branches of Co-operative Bank countrywide, or Isuzu East Africa dealers and Simba Colt dealers to access the offer.

Check Out: https://www.ghafla.com/sponsored/how-the-modern-kids-indifference-to-the-one-shilling-coin-shows-the-gradual-shift-to-a-cashless-money-future/