from: odhiambo okecth

Dear Members,

I will be hosted at Radio Mayienga due to great Public Demandtomorrow night as from 9.20pm to Midnight. I will again be hosted at the same Station on Sunday from 5pm.

Now, this is great news for many of us. Building Institutions have never been an easy thing. We have only a handful that build Institutions, and I want to believe that we at Kimisho are doing exactly that.

I have greatly been inspired by living Legends- people who dreamt and dreamt big. We have Bill Gates who together with his wife Melinda Gates are managing a the Bill Gates Foundation- a huge philanthropic outfit supporting many across the World.

Bill Gates was born on 28th October 1955 in Seattle Washington. At age 13, he had started showing great interest in software and programming and later, in partnership with Paul Allen, they built Microsoft. Who does not know Microsoft? And who does not know that Melinda Gates is wife to Bill Gates?

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lkR148vuzY8/UbgldTrXXeI/AAAAAAAADf8/T9IRhtsYDaw/s1600/1002963_10201338991342911_1961909289_n.jpg
Odhiambo T Oketch and Fred Banja flanked by Mary Akello, Philemon Odhiambo and Kimisho Members in Busia on the 22nd May 2013

Businessman and investor Warren Buffett was born on August 30,1930, in Omaha, Nebraska. Like Bill Gates, he started investing and running a small business at 13. Buffett later started the firm Buffett Partnership in Omaha, with huge success. In 2006, Buffett announced that he would give his entire fortune away to charity (est. $62 bil.), the largest act of charitable giving in United States history.

In Kenya, I have been greatly inspired by Mr. James Mwangi, now Dr James Mwangi. His Father died during the Mau Mau struggles and he was largely raised by his Mother in Kangema. He is the sixth in a family of seven. While growing up, he tended to livestock, made charcoal, sold fruits and other produce for small gains.

Dr Mwangi has been my inspiration because, when Kenya was going through a turbulent period in the Banking Sector, Equity Building Society was being declared technically insolvent. In 1993, Mr. Peter Munga- Chairman Euity, and the then CEO Mr. John Mwangi, turned to James Mwangi. At this time, Equity Building Society had been making losses of Ksh 5 million every year and was now facing a cumulative loss of Ksh 33 million, the staff had not been paid salaries, morale was at rock bottom and membership was dwindling by the hour.

He accepted the challenge. He became the Strategy and Finance Director. At the time, Equity had 27 employees, 27,000 customers, five branches and stood at number 66 out of 66 in the financial sector rankings. He did not come in to start competing with his Chairman and CEO. What he felt most at this time was a heavy sense of responsibility. “I knew I could not let down the Chairman and CEO and, above all, I could not let down the customers. When I said ‘trust me’, I meant to keep my word.”

With this, he revamped Equity Building Society and the rest is now history. And we all know that Equity Bank is the largest Bank in Africa with a customer base of 8 million.

This is what we are building at Kimisho. We have the Tyranny of Numbers and the People on our side and we are determined to make it work.

I am not seeking people to come and compete with me at Kimisho. I am seeking Technocrats who can join hands with me and make us also build our own Equity. I have the full confidence that we are on the right track and the people are with us. I have been invited by many across Kenya to just come and talk with them, and I am picking the challenge always. Our focus is firmly on the Common Man and that Small Business Entrepreneur. We can build Kimisho together as a Team.

Like the Great Bill Gates, the Great James Mwangi, and all those Great God’s Bits of Wood across the World, I am convinced that Our Journey of Hope across Kenya with Kimisho will never be in vain. And this is why we are inviting all men and women who believe that we can do it, to join hands with us as we build Kimisho into the next big thing in Africa.

We have the numbers, the energy, the goodwill and the drive.

Odhiambo T Oketch,
Team Leader and Executive Director,
KCDN, KSSL, KICL,
Tel; +254 724 365 557,
Email; kimishodevelopment@gmail.com, komarockswatch@yahoo.com
BlogSpot; http:kcdnkomarockswatch.blogspot.com