Tag: New Coop Internet Banking

Top investor in transport reveals secrets to running a trucking business

Posted on by Kibaki Muthamia

Are you in the trucking business? The journey is not that easy. You cannot predict what lies ahead of you.

Despite your business doing quite well, there will always be ups and downs. Successful business people use these moments to improve and elevate their business to greater heights.

Technology is one big platform that allows entrepreneurs to provide services to their customers and workers seamlessly.

Njiru Mugane, of Njiru & Sons Ltd, is a Mwea businessman. He’s made progressive effort to stay top of the digital financial trends – as a longtime Co-op Bank client.

He uses MCo-op Cash App on the move, through his phone. It has helped him seamlessly integrate his business with his family life.

How has Co-op Internet Banking bridged the business-family life gap?

Njiru has invested heavily multiple gas stations across the country, and in the haulage industry – with a fleet of trucks.

According to Njiru, effectively managing all the trucks at is a logistic nightmare. Drivers would call him at all hours – in the wee hours, strokes past midnight – complaining of truck breakdowns, law brushes at toll bridges, amongst other challenges.

He always had trouble wiring money to drivers and mechanics to cater to repair costs, but with MCo-op Cash, it’s been easier.

Now, he can make instant cash transfers, instant withdrawals or send money for far off garages for minor repairs or spare purchases.

For transparency, he usually makes direct cash transfers from his Co-op Bank account directly to the accounts of the servie providers. Sometimes, even to other banks.

It gives meaning to ‘Send money KI-Pro’! He says the process is fast and effective – he doesn’t even have to wake up from his bed!

Still, Njiru to keep growing, he recognizes the efforts put in by all his workers – and aims to retain his staff for long relationships.

Most of his competitor companies delay salaries. At times, the employer is at fault, sometimes banks are slow to disburse the money due to slow systems.

Njiru’s employees hardly ever suffer that fault.
Njiru’s operational secret is his reliance on Co-op internet banking system. He easily wires money directly to his employee’s accounts – wherever they are.

Money reflects instantly, unlike the outdated systems that took days. Plus, it’s a huge help on the book keeping.

How do you register for Co-op Internet Banking (MCo-op Cash)?

– Visit the nearest Co-op Bank branch and talk to an agent.

– You need your national ID number and account number to link your account to your mobile number.

– A one-time activation pin (OTP) code will be sent via SMS.

– Go to Playstore (Android phones) and download the MCo-op Cash App. It’s free.

– To activate the app, use the OTP sent by the bank. The bank agents will assist.

– Once you access your account, change the passwords to your secret numbers.

– For a phone not internet enabled, activate your MCo-op cash by dialling Co-op Bank USSD*667#.

If you decide to use the USSD code, you should at least have some airtime balance.

To learn more about Co-op internet banking, follow this link here, or talk to an agent at your nearest branch.

How the modern kid’s indifference to the one-shilling coin shows the gradual shift to a cashless money future

Posted on by Kibaki Muthamia

Over the years, a lot has changed for the human being. It’s gradual, and subtle but makes for a credible thesis study in the growth and development of the species. Hello, evolution is real – and it’s happening right under our noses.

In the times gone by, man has achieved the upright posture. The process of evolution in that regard has achieved its purpose. The front that’s still developing is the intellectual part, and huge leaps have been achieved.

Take the average kid, perhaps 3 or 4 years old.

The average modern 4-yr-old has mental faculties developed much more than his contemporary from two decades back. He speaks more – better learning abilities. He achieves physical milestones faster and grasps contexts better.

The concept of money, for instance.

The coin would be a huge treat for a kid a decade back, but it’s no longer acceptable. Nowadays, the one-shilling coin is best used as a plaything. They’ve learnt that as an entity it’s almost valueless. While the one-shilling-coin may be useful as a teaching aid in the concepts of finance and money saving culture, kids have grown quite indifferent to it.

As a teaching aid, yes.

An average modern teen in upper elementary school has an advanced vocabulary quota. On the coin issue, for instance, if such a poser came up in an essay – easily name out the sides of a coin.

What are the names of the three sides of a coin?

According to Wikipedia:

“Traditionally, the side of a coin carrying a bust of a monarch or other authority, or a national emblem, is called the obverse, or colloquially, heads. The other side is called the reverse, or colloquially, tails.”

Also Read: https://www.ghafla.com/sponsored/this-is-why-a-poultry-based-startup-idea-has-irresistible-merits-and-worth-your-time/

To be fair, though, obverse and its opposite, reverse, refers to much more than the two flat faces of a coin. It also refers to some other two-sided objects like paper money, flags, seals, medals, drawings, old master prints and other works of art, and printed fabrics.

This generational change has largely been influenced by a digital switch which has seen most societal basics slowly shunning the traditional ways. The commerce and industry facets have changed and improved for the better.

Cashless money is now acceptable and subtly encouraged in the onset of the financially-crippling global pandemic, Covid-19. The tangible aspect of trading in cash has been found to be a medium of transmission.

In the dynamic banking industry, players have revolutionized their systems for a more inclusive digital mode of doing business.

Closer home, Co-op Bank has led the banking sector with a revamped, state-of-the-art digital banking platform that not only guarantees data security in business transactions, but also convenient and user friendly.

The New Co-op Internet Banking allows clients to access their Coop Bank accounts from the comfort of their houses for most everyday banking needs. Cash transfers between account in the same bank, or to other banks has never been easier.

Besides, the New Co-op Internet Banking also allows fast payments for utilities like power, water and cable TV bills.

All Co-op Bank clients easily self-register on their mobile devices. Click here for easy steps to self-register.

Alternatively, get to visit the nearest Coop Bank branch for ready assistance to join the digital banking platform.

Stay safe. Go digital.

Related Read: All you need to know about Co-op Bank’s APIs and its positive impact in customer service delivery

 

 

 

This is why a poultry-based startup idea has irresistible merits and worth your time!

Posted on by Kibaki Muthamia

There has been an intense global campaign to influence food sustenance, especially in developing countries. Leading scholars and economists across the globe have extensively released publications in that regard, and the view is unanimous: The next crop of millionaires in Africa will come from the agribusiness sector.

After the Covid-19 pandemic hit, corporate and private businesses have taken financial hits resulting in massive pay cuts for employees – or, the less pleasant and life-changing job layoffs and contract terminations.

Agribusiness beckons.

Sheriff Poultry Farm in Bamburi, Mombasa is a classic study on how a well-thought out investment in this sector can turn around plummeting fortunes. What’s more? Improving the livelihood of several lads by generating wage-paying jobs.

The founder of the robust poultry farm is an energetic, jovial lad – perhaps, early 30s’ – and has clocked a decade in a regional cement manufacturing company. He’s Abubakar Mwinyi, but known in the sprawling Bamburi Mwisho hood simply as Sheriff.

Also Check: https://www.ghafla.com/sponsored/all-you-need-to-know-about-co-op-banks-apis-and-its-positive-impact-in-customer-service-delivery/

In January, just a month after the first case of the pandemic had broken, a third of the employees had received a letter from HR that declined to renew their contracts.

Thankfully, the company had awarded a severance package.

Sheriff didn’t grow up in a farming household, and didn’t have much experience. He had to learn from scratch. Sheriff sourced for online manuals and joined digital farming platforms. After lots of research, he settled on poultry, for several reasons.

The capital required doesn’t break the bank. It’s not labor intensive, and is flexible – start small – lower the risks. He didn’t need much land, his courtyard would be apt.

After a tiered chicken structure by a local fundi, Sheriff visited a hatchery in Kilifi County, and bought 50 chicks – one month’s old. His research sparked his interest in the Ken-Bro variety. This breed is versatile, either for eggs or as table meat.

It has notable resistance to disease compared to purebred layers, and attains weight for meat in just 3 months. If one opts for eggs, they require 6 months.

Sheriff was eyeing the meat business – cafés, restaurants and eateries. He also enjoyed home grown advantage – well known. He had ready market.

Related: https://www.ghafla.com/sponsored/finally-there-is-an-exciting-offer-getting-kenyan-men-thrilled-over-household-shopping/

One month in, the entrepreneur realized how costly the venture is. The birds were fully house-bred, meaning the feeds cost twice as much as a similar project would cost in free range option. They were eating into his savings – poultry feeds are costly.

At 3 months, Sheriff sold the entire flock to a local café owner, at a good market price. He realized profit – but, at this stage – he valued the experience more. The first flock was his first dive into the deep end of the pool.

Using the earnings, he leased some space from his next door neighbor and fenced it. Now, he could rear his next flock partly in a deep litter system, and free range. After the usual fumigation and sanitation of the premises, he had doubled his purchase – he brought in 100 birds.

Since, Sheriff Poultry Farm has grown in leaps and bounds. It has diversified to host turkeys, water ducks and guinea fowls. The farm formulates own feeds.

Abubakar credits his success to a good relationship with Co-op Bank. After his first sale, Co-op Bank had assisted him register an M-Pesa Till number at no cost for his business – and linked it to his bank account.

Now, through New Co-op Bank Internet Banking, Abubakar easily monitors his account through his mobile phone. It’s now easier to pay for feeds or raw materials directly from his account, pay salaries. He gets to pay his utility bills – water and electricity bills conveniently using his phone.

It’s easy to self-register on New Co-op Bank Internet Banking, just click here, and enjoy the world of banking at your fingertips.

Finally, there is an exciting offer getting Kenyan men thrilled over household shopping!

Posted on by Kibaki Muthamia

Therapy doesn’t have an handbook.

To handle stress and depressing situations, many people find their peace in different things. A lot of people want to travel to new places, meet new places. A road trip is very therapeutic – there’s magic in the open road. If lucky, an open-top roadster is a blessing.

A famous global poet admitted to spending lone times at a remote waterfall. The  sheet of water falling endlessly down the cliff to end in white foam and mist on the rocks below soothes the soul.

For other souls, hiking over difficult, remote trails works magic. A fair amount of bird watching along the route adds to the allure. Perhaps, it’s the smell of the woods, or the addictive testosterone as body limits are pushed to the extreme.

In some of these cases, being in an area without cellular network coverage is the secret. In the normal daily hustle and bustle, the gadgets never stop ringing. So many people to talk to, so many deals to close, so many deadlines to meet – its sheer heaven to get away from the madness once in a while.

It’s a chance to recharge the soul’s batteries.

On the domestic front, shopping comes as an easy option – it’s very therapeutic. The ladies love to shop. Most Kenyan ladies will go nuts with a good shopping spree. Needless to say, lots of emotional baggage is left behind in malls and arcade aisles. Its nature, perhaps.

Universally, however, men have never been taken in by shopping. It’s a necessary evil, an insufferable feat. A lot of men will gladly pass the monthly shopping chore to their spouses for a quiet drink and easy banter at the neighborhood barbershop.

This month, though, there’s a deal that has got Kenyan men visibly excited about household shopping. Granted, there are numerous comical scenes of a willing dad, trying to pick a brand of detergent from a couple of brands, but, still…..

This deal that’s changing the perception is The Angukia Discount Promotion in collaboration with Naivas Supermarket.

Shopping online from Naivas Supermarket has its perks.

When a Co-op Bank client shops online on Naivas and pays with the Co-op Visa Card, the client enjoys a refund on the delivery fee for all purchases worth above Ksh.1, 000.00. This Delivery Fee Refund is automatically deposited in the client’s Naivas E-wallet within 24 hours to be used in the next purchase.

The Angukia Discount Promo runs from 24th July – 18th September, 2020.

This online shopping deal has changed the hassle that has menfolk avoiding household shopping like the plague.

What’s more?

Co-op Bank clients can easily track their money from the comfort of their homes, through the New Co-op Internet Banking platform. A client can pay shopping and utility bills like KPLC, Water Bills, etc. It’s also easy, fast and secure to transfer cash between accounts within the banks, or other banks.

It’s easy to self-register on New Co-op Internet Banking, click here. Or, visit the nearest Co-op Bank branch for assistance from the banking staff.

All you need to know about Co-op Bank’s APIs and its positive impact in customer service delivery

Posted on by Kibaki Muthamia

Co-op Bank has invigorated its API platform. This is a vital cue in promoting partnerships and innovation and building disruptive business models and platforms to deliver seamless customer experience.

Co-op APIs are here to boost small business owners, fin-tech’s or techie’s to grow their businesses and improve overall customer experience.

But, then, are we really conversant with API’s?

What is an API?

A simple definition says it’s an application program interface (API).

It is a code that allows two software programs to communicate with each other.

An API defines the correct way for a developer to request services from an operating system (OS) or other application and expose data within different contexts and across multiple channels.

An Open API is also known as a public API are published on the internet and allows the owner of a network-accessible service to give universal access to customers.

Exposing data with an API can improve the customer experience because it provides greater functionality and scope of services within a single application or other digital property.

Co-op Bank offers simple APIs – aptly tagged ‘restful’ – that allows clients to quickly integrate and manage payments on web or mobile application. This is inspired by a belief in the creation of technologies that support innovation and in the creation of systems that have a positive impact on the lives of the people in the society.

The bank has in place a continuous innovation plan to open up the banking space using the latest and thoroughly tested technologies.

Co-op Bank APIs fall into two categories – transactional and account information services.

The Transactional APIs which involve:

Send money from a Co-op Bank account to an M-Pesa wallet.

Pesalink send to account – Enables clients to use Pesalink to send money from a Co-op Bank account to another bank account in a different bank.

Internal Funds Transfer – Enables clients to transfer funds from a Co-op Bank account to another Co-op Bank account.

Instant Notification Service – Sends real-time notifications to a customer’s accounting system of any activities in the respective customer’s account, like debits or credits.

The Account Information Services APIs have these functions:

Account Status Inquiry – This allows a client access the account balance around the clock.

The balances may be in various forms:

Cleared Balance

Booked Balance

Blocked Balance

Available Balance

Arrears Amount

Un-Cleared Balance

Overdraft limit

Co-op Bank open APIs eases up tedious programming tasks to enable clients focus on their core tasks and responsibilities.

To learn more about Coop Bank API’s, click here or visit the nearest branch.

Did you know that a piggy bank for your kids has an immense impact in their adult years?

Posted on by Kibaki Muthamia

The piggy bank.

This contraption has for generations been an endless source of happiness and grief for kids, in equal measure. It’s full of lessons – and it’s an instructional aid in the financial maze the kid will inevitably find himself growing into.

A basic piggy will come as a convectional box, with a slit hole. But with time they’ve metamorphosed into interesting figures and figurines – disguised in colorful themes based on comics or fantasy heroes, say Spiderman, or Donald Duck. It’s the coin-slit at the top that matters.

These are lots of ways a piggy bank is beneficial to your kid:

  • A piggy bank instills the long-term savings discipline into a kid. Once a kid gets a piggy and some coins, the natural instinct is to insert the coins into the slit. The lesson starts when the kid tries to remove the coins – and fails.

That’s where the piggy bank beats the money jar as an instructional aid.

  • It’s easier to teach kids how to have goals, and the saving culture towards achieving the goals. Once a piggy bank is given, set a goal for the kid spaced out at intervals: perhaps a coveted toy to be bought. The kid will show lots of enthusiasm to achieve this.

Fast forward to a few years, the kid will find it easier saving towards that family house.

  • A piggy bank enables a kid to focus on financial lessons. Kids learn better with visual cues. The lessons start as early as possible.

Saving is a habit, not an innate ability.

  • Allows an avenue in which kids can be involved in day to day spending management talks, and financial management.

For adults, financial management practices are increasingly taking a significant section of their time. It makes sense to have a platform that makes it easier to manage finances from a central point. In the current shifts to manage the global pandemic Covid-19, one of the safer practices is to go cashless.

Co-op Bank clients are a step ahead.

The New Co-op Internet Banking allows clients to access personal and business financial transactions online easily and securely from anywhere, round the clock.

A client can transfer cash from an account to another Co-op Bank account, or a different bank. It’s easy to handle standing orders, paying utility bills, et al. This has really revamped the world of banking.

To join and self-register on New Co-op Internet Banking, click here. One can also visit the nearest Co-op Branch and learn how digital banking has come full circle.

Related: https://www.ghafla.com/sponsored/the-easy-steps-to-self-register-and-enjoy-banking-services-on-the-new-co-op-internet-banking-service/

The easy steps to self-register and enjoy banking services on the New Co-op Internet Banking Service

Posted on by Kibaki Muthamia

The New Co-op Internet Banking Service enables individual customers, business owners, corporate companies and institutions to carry out various transactions and monitor their bank accounts through the internet.

These are some of the services one can easily access from the comfort of your home, via a mobile phone or computer:

Transfer cash to another Co-op account in real time.

Start, stop or amend standing orders in real time.

Transfer cash to a foreign bank account in foreign currency.

Transfer cash to another local bank account in 1 working day.

View, download or print account statements for all your Co-op Bank Accounts.

Make bulk payments, for example, salaries, dividends, loan disbursements, bonuses and supplier payments.

Order cheque books and stop cheque’s.

Pay utility bills, for example, KPLC, DStv, and Nairobi Water.

It’s not rocket science joining up with the New Co-op Internet Banking Service.

For existing Co-op Bank clients, all they need is a completed application form, and a completed token collection form.

With non-Co-op Bank customers, to include businesses, corporate companies and institutions, they’d need:

Completed application form

Completed token collection form

Certificate of Incorporation

Memorandum & Articles of Association

National ID/Passport copies of the company’s directors

Once the application has been approved, a user ID and password are automatically generated by the Co-op Net system and sent to your email address. In case one opts to keep generating a second password using a token, one collects it once the application has been approved.

This is available at a small fee.

 

The New Coop Internet Banking is very convenient, secure and fast.

To self-register on your mobile or home computer, click here, to start.

How an unemployed teacher in Kakamega turns fortunes around with an agribusiness project in poultry and organic veggies

Posted on by Kibaki Muthamia

A few weeks ago, the Education ministry delivered a bombshell in the school reopening tentative dates. January 2021! As expected, this bit was received with a lot of open-ended questions by the people directly involved – teachers, parents and students.

A lot of professionals have lost livelihoods in job losses, or hefty pay cuts. In Kenya, teachers in private institutions are in that quota. One has to be innovative to realize an alternative source of income to sustain life and families.

In a sleepy village in Kakamega, hails an enterprising teacher who’s taken up agri-business with gusto.

A visit to Apex Farm in the outskirts of Kakamega Town is inspiring. Apex Farm is just a few months old, and owned by an energetic teacher previously running a private school in Westlands, Nairobi County.

When the pandemic took center stage last December leading to closure of schools across the nation, Wafula Elvis was devastated. He’d been teaching at the school for half a decade, and had a family of three. The school’s proprietor only managed a month’s salary after closing down.

Wafula had shifted his family upcountry. He’d thought wisely – the lockdown happened shortly after. His ancestral farm was unused and bare, and he had to think of projects to start – to create cash flow, sustain his family and have a positive impact on his community.

He’d zeroed in on two pursuits.

  1. Poultry – layers.
  2. Organic vegetables.

As with all fledgling projects, capital was the first hiccup in the plans.

For years, Wafula has been a Co-op Bank client, and his salary had been paid through his account here. He’d visited the local Co-op Branch and applied for a loan. After the necessary appraisals, his loan had been approved.

Further, the bank had facilitated an M-Pesa till number for his farm business on his behalf at no charge, which allows direct payments to his Co-op Bank account.

Looking back, Wafula pensively confides moving to the village and starting the agribusiness project was a life-changing decision.

*******

The writer’s take:

I reach the Apex Farm metallic gate, and there’s no one in sight. I had called the owner beforehand. The gate swings open, and am on the lookout for dogs. None. The courtyard is filled with various duck varieties – Rouen, Muscovy – some turkeys and geese. It’s a beautiful sight, there’s a paddling pool!

Presently, I see a robust, lean-looking man waving from behind the walled section behind the house. I don’t need an introduction – it’s the owner, Mr. Elvis Wafula.

He’s tending to his chicken. Several hundred layers in metallic cages, pecking furiously. It’s feeding time. I down my tools and dig in to work.

 “I don’t understand layers. I feed a hundred layers with the same feeds and same ration for six months, around 20 birds are still not laying?”

Wafula is puzzled. Me, too.

*******

The Apex Farm makes a tidy profit with a daily egg supply to shops and groceries across town. The chicken droppings are used in the organic garden. All native vegetables are grown. Wafula’s wife sells these at her grocery stand in town, and hotel owners warming up to healthier food from organic produce.

The Apex Farm proprietor, Wafula, is comfortably servicing the Co-op Bank loan . To prove it, he tracks loan progress on his phone through the New Co-op Internet Banking.

Besides, the New Co-op Internet Banking enables him track all payments from his clients in real time. Life is also easier, thanks to other features like instant bill payments and airtime purchase directly from Co-op Bank account.

Click here to gain similar insights for your business.

“Do you miss the classroom, Mwalimu?” I prod.

“Well, mmm…” Wafula shrugs.

Millennials, hands up if you spent a chilly night outdoors to make sure a cow doesn’t snack on her own placenta!

Posted on by Kibaki Muthamia

Oh, the things the boy child in my rural generation had to go through!

It’s a wonder no fatalities or permanent disfigurements were recorded. The rough and tumble on a daily basis was crazy. First, bullying was a thing, and village cred depended on whether you snitched or not. In any case, any snitching to your folks would spawn more problems.

“What were you doing with those boys to get beaten?”

“And, why didn’t you fight back?”

Scraps on the knees would rarely be reported. Tiny bruises would mature into full-blown, septic wounds – and, only then would a lad be taken to the local dispensary for a tetanus jab. That trip would have nothing close to snacking on cookies and fizzy drinks.

The walk would make a huge part of a disciplinary hearing.

One of the lads in the village almost broke his neck in a dare, but luckily escaped with a fractured femur. In those days, the valleys had gigantic, majestic hardwood trees – Camphor, Meru Oak, Meru Teak. These trees would be tall, sometimes close to 100 meters. At the peaks, hawks and eagles would make their nests.

Well, one evening after a river swimming contest, a guy from a rival village comes up with a wild idea.

Who’s brave enough to climb up the towering tree and capture a fledgling from the net?

Wait, an eagle’s chick is called a fledgling. Thought you should know.

This was the kind of stunts that instantly made you a legend in the village. Even damsels would take note. My village crew wouldn’t watch the challenge slip by, and instantly a volunteer stepped forth. I was too little at the time to think about it – not that I would have, anyway.

The guy starts to climb, while we sit and cheer. He’s bare chested, and some sections are a challenge. It takes a while, and halfway into it, the crowd falls silent. We all know this is a bad idea, but no one wants to say that.

Our climber didn’t even get to the last quarter of the tree, before a pair of eagles re-surfaced. Immediately, the birds of prey staged a double-pronged attack. It was subtle at first – blinding claps to the head with their wings.

The climber is hanging off a branch with one hand and trying to ward off the birds with the other. If the birds hadn’t scaled up their attacks with their hooked beaks and talons, perhaps the climber would have got off the tree safely.

A swoop by one of the eagles on his bare back left several gashes. Rivulets of blood started running down the back of his thighs. The tree gets slippery. Another swoop, and our climber is tumbling down.

The damage would have been catastrophic, even fatal, if his fall hadn’t been broken by branches on the way down. It didn’t take long, but the eagles were still fast enough to claw him all the way down!

He plunged headlong into thick shrubbery growing along the river bed. We all took to our heels – straight home! I later heard that the climber’s younger brother had raced to fetch their father. They’d almost taken an hour to retrieve the lad from the shrubbery. He was lucky to escape with just a broken leg.

Recently, with the lockdown due to the pandemic, I spent a chilly night with a vet. The vet says his career path was decided by a near-death episode as a kid. A bull had broken loose and almost trampled him to death – they were having their cow serviced. Since, he’s helped phase out traditional bulls in favor of artificial insemination – at reasonable costs.

On this night, our family cow had just delivered – we were waiting to receive the placenta. Cows have an uncanny trick of eating their placentas!

As is with the Covid-19 regulations, the vet insists on cashless means of payment. He easily self-registered online on the New Co-op Internet Banking.

The New Co-op Internet Banking allows a client to handle and track payments to his account, real time. This also allows direct purchase of airtime from a Co-op Bank account, and even pay utility bills like power, water or cable TV packages. To self-register online, click here.

If you survived such adventures, you are a legend!

How muggers strike in the middle of a crowd on a busy pavement, and no one’s the wiser!

Posted on by Kibaki Muthamia

A lot of people cannot really describe the moments leading to their first near-death experiences. It often passes either in a hazy blur, or in long, painstakingly slow seconds. The sudden surge of adrenaline may come differently in people – excited, goose-bumps, dazed, confused. It depends on what state one is at the time.

Imagine you work in the CBD, running an electronics shop with a few assistants in a side street off Luthuli Avenue. The pandemic is still causing havoc across the globe, and locally, the curfew hour just got extended to 9pm. Imagine that you’ve released your staff at 8pm, and left the premises shortly after.

You stroll towards Ronald Ngala Street. There’s the usual crowd, also in a rush to beat the curfew. Its classic Nairobi streets at night – there’s the intermittent hawker displaying clothes and hats at every street light. There’s the usual cacophony from the bikes, cars and Matatu vans with blaring music.

A couple of yards to the bus terminus, you stop for a minute for a bite of roast maize. This is not a break from your routine. This is your usual vendor, and though you don’t know the lad’s name, you briefly nod in greeting, and he acknowledges. He’s listening to some music on earphones.

Imagine you are marinating your half-piece of roast maize with lemon dipped in pepper powder. Kenyans are peculiar, eh? Your mind is drifting as it often does – how many more passengers till the next outward bus fills up? Is my mask on well? Will the president lift the county lockdown soon – I don’t have enough food to last us a week more….

You feel your rucksack slipping from your left shoulder. You always carry it on one strap. There’s not much in it. Just a scarf, some insurance journals, a small thermos flask and a phone charger.

You heave it up. A thing everyone does on auto-pilot.

Except, it feels too light. And, weird.

Immediately, you notice there’s a man on either side of you with masks on. And, they’re standing awfully close – too close for comfort – considering this is a maize roasting stand.

You try to turn, and realize you can’t. There’s someone else behind you, and taller – with something pointy pressed on your back.

Then, it hits you – Oh My God! Am Getting Robbed!

It gets the heart racing, just imagining it, right?

But that exactly happened to Michael Tanui, a middle-aged father of two, who lives in Kahawa. In his own words, a ‘seasoned’ Nairobi dweller, he didn’t expect to get robbed in the middle of a busy pavement with his favorite roast-maize guy in front of him.

Speaking of it a week after, he admits to getting frozen in the moment. It took a few seconds, but in his mind, it felt like an eternity. He’d felt the guy behind him run his fingers into his pockets and pick his wallet, then his phone. Some crazy thoughts had flooded his mind.

The maize guy is wearing an Ankara fabric mask.

It must have been minutes before he shook himself out of the reverie. He’d seen the maize guy handing him a crumpled fifty shilling note, and some coins.

‘Wameenda na vitu zako. Shika fare utanilipa kesho boss’.

He hadn’t said anything, just turned and walked in a daze towards the nearest bus.

At home, that’s when the shaking started. Mercifully, the kids had already gone to bed. His wife was quick to overcome the shock. She’d turned on his computer, and asked him to log into the New Co-op Internet Banking.

The New Co-op Internet Banking allows Co-op Bank clients to quickly block lost or stolen Co-op Bank cards. When they took his wallet, they’d taken his ID cards, Coop Bank Visa cards and other documents. When he thinks of it, Tanui admits his wife probably saved them more problems by blocking the cards.

Since the incident, Tanui hardly carries any cash or valuable belongings. Oh, he’s also changed his roast-maize guy.

The secret to successfully invest in a Matatu and still keep your sanity intact

Posted on by Kibaki Muthamia

There’s never a dull moment on Kenyan roads, for our Matatu crews. It’s a world of pulsating adrenalin, theatrics and daredevil stunts. It’s a constant rush against time, deadlines and the endless hide-and-seek with lawmakers donning the white, peaked caps.

In every teen’s struggle with identity, a large percentage has given serious thought to join a Matatu crew as a lifetime career choice. I mean, it seems so cool. The conductors are usually awash with currency, and decked in the latest fashion trends. This industry, unlike uptight office careers, allows a lot of freedom. Dress code. For who?

Hair styles?

You fancy hair dyed bright red? Dreadlocks? Punk hairstyles with clean-shaven sides? In this industry, this is game!

The city is vibrant with color from awesome graffiti on pimped-up Matatu rides. Its pure art. It’s a culture that celebrates diversity of tastes and doesn’t give credence to tribal origins. Striking graffiti themes ignore color, creed or origins.

Sports. Music. Hollywood. Hip hop. Ghetto. These graffiti themes unify people in the city as one.

An occasional brush with the law adds a bad-boy image to the trade. The perpetual rush to beat deadlines, or make some quick cash may inspire an illegal turn, or a prohibited pick and drop. These episodes are usually well-managed and the two strange bedfellows have learnt to share the limelight.

A graffiti-done Matatu in Nairobi (file image)
A graffiti-done Matatu in Nairobi (file image)

A lot of people depend on this trade, indirectly. There’s youth who earn bread by merely calling out passengers at bus termini. Large hordes of hawkers sell their wares in the Matatu as they wait for their clients.

Regretfully, some of these Matatu make stunts on the road that sometimes result in loss of life, or damage to property. There has been calls and movements to sensitize proper driving practices. Increased awareness has had positive impact as passengers now readily call out recklessness.

The uncelebrated souls in this trade are the invisible owners and investors. Think of the insane levels of stress one has to endure on a daily basis, with a bunch of unapologetic clowns running your investment worth millions of shillings?

Unless a proper business strategy is in place, early trips to the doctor for stress-related complications are inevitable.

At Parklands, there is an open-air auto garage – cluttered on one section with written off engine blocks, bonnets and dusty car seats. This yard belongs to a cheeky, jovial Arab gentleman who invites freelance mechanics to work freely, as long as they source for spares from his shop. It’s always busy, and noisy.

His name is Nawaz Khan, or simply as The Mechanic. Nawaz likes to narrate of his journey in the Matatu trade, of which his family has invested tens of millions. In the early days, before the famous Michuki Laws that trimmed the insanity in the streets, Nawaz always had high blood pressure.

One driver has been arrested.

One Matatu has been rear-rammed on Mombasa Road – designated route is Thika Road.

One Matatu has been nabbed transporting illegal substances.

The calls would come through all day long, always something needing attention with his vehicles. He wouldn’t get off the streets, though. Nawaz had literally grown up in a Matatu – watching his father drive.

Luckily, the Michuki Laws had the Matatu owners form Sacco’s. Each investor gave up the daily running of his vehicles to the Sacco, and settle with weekly bank remittances. This greatly worked in Nawaz’s favor: work fulltime in his auto-spare business.

 

On a weekly basis, Nawaz uses his phone to check his Co-op Bank account. With the New Co-op Internet Banking, Nawaz easily requests for bank statements for free.

It’s inevitable that a lot of riff raff hang out at his yard for the odd jobs, and he recently lost his wallet. The New Co-op Internet Banking had allowed him to easily block the Co-op Bank cards in the lost wallet. Since then, he has embraced cashless transactions.

The New Co-op Internet Banking allows a lot of other activities: Buying airtime and internet bundles directly from the account, make utility payments like cable TV, water and power bills, and lots more.

To dads making selfless sacrifices for their families – Happy Father’s Day!

Posted on by Kibaki Muthamia

My third floor balcony overlooks a fish market. It’s nothing fancy, just a smattering of polythene paper stalls. The smell of fish sometimes is overwhelming, and the view is an eye-sore. But it’s the people in the market that are close to my heart. I like watching the vendors call out to their customers – each lady has a characteristic call – sometimes a whistle, a screech.

The most intense moments happen when the fishermen bring in their catch. This trade calls for a level of roughness, some bit of violence. A lot of the fishermen are usually tipsy, and will likely head back to the drinking dens after the sale.

Over time, I’ve noticed the rough, tipsy fishermen never sell all their catch. There’s always a bunch of fish sewn over their gills set aside from the sale. This is meant for their families. However carefree these men may appear to be, they always have their families in mind.

Their wives and kids come first.

This is what being a father means. From my balcony, I can see the pride and purpose in their steps as they first head home to deliver the daily bread, then stroll out for a stiff drink with their peers.

Back in the days, festive seasons would bring me a heavy cloud of sorrow. Christmas, Easter, occasional birthdays…name them all. I’d dread them. Because we always had to slaughter some animal. In the village, we’d be close to the animals we kept – and it’d take days before I got over it.

This ceremony was a masculine affair, and I still think of the chilly mornings. It was always early, before the children woke up. As the eldest son, sleeping in was a luxury. My father would rap on my door (my brothers and I lived in a separate house) – and whisper hoarsely:

“Ken! Ken! Go get the goat!”

I didn’t like it, but I’d jump out of bed. In those days, you’d be teased for days for a sign of weakness. In those days, it was deemed manly to show no fright at the sight of blood.

I’d grab the chosen goat and disappear into the semi-dark banana grove behind the main house. For a few minutes, I’d kneel with the goat’s head in my arms. I’d try to explain to the goat why it had to go down this way. I always felt like Judas Iscariot, with his 30 pieces of silver.

Shortly, father would appear with a knife and a small bucket. He’d wrestle the goat to the ground, and tie up his feet. He’d ask me to kneel on her back – to hold her down. Then, time would slow down…..

The overpowering smell of blood would hit me first. Then, the smell of sweat, and dung on father’s khaki overalls would join in. Nausea almost always overran me, and I would retch and vomit.

Father would look at me softly, and sometimes pat me on the head.

“Don’t worry, Ken. They die so that we may live”.

It’s been several decades, and these sacred memories never leave me. Memories of these solemn words, told over a bleeding goat.

Father is now retired, and no longer wrestles goats on festive days.

He now runs a butchery, albeit from home. He’d used a section of his pension, and I had acquired a Coop Bank loan – we jointly own this venture. His role is to source for live animals from the community – he’s gifted with amazing people skills. I take over from the slaughterhouse – distribution to various retail outlets and institutions, like hospitals and hotels.

It’s easy business, thanks to the New Co-op Internet Banking that allows me to manage my Co-op Bank account from one place. It allows real-time monitoring of payments to the butchery account through the Co-op Bank M-Pesa pay bill number 400200, and direct cash transfers via M-Coop Cash App.

I can also access banking features like statements, buying airtime and internet data direct from my account. The New Co-op Internet Banking allows convenient fund transfers to M-Pesa or any local bank account.

Towards dusk, I send the old man a message on his phone: Happy Father’s Day.

Fatherhood is a tricky responsibility and there’s no handbook, yet. A big part of who we are is a reflection of the fatherhood we grew up with…