The underworld of Construction: Final Part

Wrong professionals

Continued from part 5

This friend who doubles up as a past customer was rather excited when he called me. He wanted me to pass by his site and see the house he was constructing. From my bust schedule one of the Saturdays I managed to squeeze in some minutes and passed by the site.

From a far the maisonnette looks brilliant, a very eye catching roof and the outer walls were very well done. The guy was not on site at the time I got there but I decided to just get in and view. My eagle eyes were quick to note that the workmanship was superb. My sharp eye further started to see some serious design flaws. The lounge door was positioned at the middle of the lounge rendering the usable space minimal. The lounge was sunken and I quickly realized that the step was too big between lounge and dining. The stairs were done well but there was a huge space, sort of a corridor which again seemed unusable. The worst thing I saw was in the master bedroom. The was a very tiny window despite the room being humongous. Inside the shared bathroom, almost everything was wrongly positioned; the bathroom was one long one and for you to access the water closet, you had to pass the showering area. Obvious mistake is that when one person takes a shower and another person wants to use the toilet, then you must go through the wet area before you reach it. I could go on and on and write about a very long snag list but the long and short of it is that the design work was really poor.

Just before I finished going round the house, the guy appeared together with another dude whom I suspected was the foreman. Upon introductions I realized that the other dude was actually the ‘architect’. In quotes because he later told me that he is originally a structural engineer though he had learnt some design work in his line of business. The puzzle was solved. Here is a structural engineer masquerading as an architect. That explained why the design work was piss poor and the workmanship superb. I realized how we fail before we even start a project. WRONG PROFESSIONALs.

Like that architect who is a one man show is a common scenario. He convinces you that he can not only design the house, but he can also give you a Bill of Quantities (BoQ). He also convinces you that he can play the role of the structural engineer. Heck, he is even very comfortable doing interior design work. Haiyaa, plus he also wants to supply you with materials. I once met this fellow called Mike who talks non-stop; akin to a radio with new batteries. You see he claims to have the answer to all your problems. He knows where to source for everything and anything and he is an architect by profession. And so I asked him, what is your specialty?? I obviously never took him serious.

Where do we get it all wrong?

1.    Let the architect design the house and carry out site inspections to ascertain the quality of work. Nothing more.

2.    Let the structural engineer advise you in as far as the structural issues are concerned. He is a very important professional otherwise your structure could one day come down, if not during construction.

3.    Don’t bring over your relative and assume that they will play the role of clerk of works when they understand nothing about construction. The learning curve is too steep.

4.    And those junk-of-all trade fundis who claim they can do mason work, carpentry, fittings, roofing, plumbing and all manner of works are suspect.

5.    Never ever go for quacks, their costs could be tempting but the price you may end up paying maybe too much. Like that friend of mine whose roof was leaking. Can you imagine he was forced to bring the entire roof down… I once told him that he was like that man who passed several dogs on his way to being bitten by a goat.

Enough of this construction stuff. I hope that we have all learnt something.

We shall shift gears and get back to interesting business concepts. In the next post we shall talk about the powers of a good name…how to profile your customers. They say 'if you want to sell to everybody, you'll most likely sell to no-one'...and other business concepts that will assist us become better business people and investors.

The underworld of Construction: Part 5

Timber theft explained

Continued from part 4

This guy who was measuring my timber at Kawangware spoke in a very soft voice but with a lot of conviction that I believed what he was saying. He actually confessed that the reason he left Rongai was primarily due to threats from one of the customers in the yard he worked for. The said customer after getting conned promised to come for the heads of all those he believed conned him; and that included this young man. Once he heard that the owner of the yard had been accosted by some boys who threatened to have his severed head and balls collected in one of the bus parks, he knew it was time to hit the road.

Without warning he started explaining the all-important tricks and I was all ears. You see that measuring tape is usually tampered with. If you are keen to observe, it will have some feet missing, as in it could move from 1 to 2 to 4 to 5 then to 7 to 8 to 9 to 11 to 12 to 13 then 15 and so on. This essentially means that if that tape indicates 9 feet, in the real sense the correct length is 7 feet. If it indicates 15 then the actual length of the timber is 11 feet and so on. In essence you could be losing 3 feet on average per timber. If you have a quantity of 2000 pieces, then obviously you will have lost as much as 6000 feet and if each foot is costing Kshs 30, then your loss would be as much as 180k. That is just one of the tricks.

The second trick he mentioned was in the recording of the timber as it is measured. You see, the fellows use a piece of paper and a pen and they normally draw tu-small lines depending on the length of the each timber measured. Meaning, there will be a section for 9 feet pieces, 10 feet, 12 feet and so on and a ka-line will be drawn in either of the sections depending on the measured and the ‘shouted aloud’ length. What I suspect happened in my case is that, the guy who was keeping the tally would add imaginary tu-lines whenever my foreman who was to keep an eye on him got distracted. When I flashed back, I remember that there were as many as ten fellows each given a specific role in the set up but some were just meant to distract us.

The other but most unlikely trick is to ensure that the timber is ferried in more than one truck and if you don’t have a trusted guy accompanying the lorry, then they can drop some at designated places on their way. And they’d go to the length of befriending your foreman or fundi in case you send them before the actual purchase and make him part of the squad to defraud you.

The other thing they’d do to novices would be to measure poor quality timber. For an experienced hand, whenever you encounter poor quality timber or one with unusable section(s), the feet are normally discounted or the entire piece is kept aside.

So how are you supposed to safeguard against such tricks. Read below:

1.      Make sure that the measuring tape being utilized is your own. It is better to buy one (they are very cheap) because it will obviously not be tampered with.

2.      Make sure that when the measuring is being done, keep your own tally for later comparison at the end of the measuring. In the event there is a discrepancy, then make it clear that your tally is the correct one. If they insist that it is not, then let the exercise be repeated.

3.      Always make sure you have a trusted hand (preferably your fundi) to verify the quality of the timber and be in charge of ensuring poor quality is set aside or the process of discounting the unusable sections is done and fairly so.

4.      Never trust your fundi or foreman to take charge of the entire process in your absence. Notice how easy it is to co-opt them into the gang and milk you dry. Never ever delegate this fully.

5.      Where possible, let the seller deliver the timber to your site and measure from there. At least in your site you will have absolute control.

I was conned in broad daylight by I told myself that it will never happen again. You see the other day I was purchasing timber and some guy from Ruai attempted to use these tricks on me. The fellow had discounted his prices with the assumption that he’ll apply the tricks on me. I proved a hard nut and after sealing all the loopholes, the measuring was done but at the end of the exercise, the fellow confessed he was to make a ‘loss’ because the prices were unbelievably low and he never managed to steal anything. He even contemplated chasing me away without the timber but I cornered him. The other day I called him and informed him that I need to purchase some more but he declined to sell to me; of course he knows am a bull that cannot be milked.

Be advised and don’t let them con you, least of all with these tricks. By the way, am sure they are probably devising other strategies to steal from unsuspecting Kenyans.

The other day I went to see some guy I had sold to some plot. He is currently constructing his residential house and what I saw on his site was quite sad. I discovered he is using the wrong professionals. Topic for another day, well next post.

The underworld of Construction: Part 4

Timber theft

Continued from part 3

This Momanyi guy found us on the site when we were busy chatting with my foreman and introduced himself. He was all smiles and presented to the foreman his quotation for timber. By the way, some of us who are small-bodied and sometimes dress anyhow without much thinking are mistaken for KYMs on site. That reminds me someday when my brother in-law came to see me on site and this entrepreneurial young man who wanted to enlist the owner of the house for garbage collection service was all over him asking for business and ignoring me…then my brother points at me and advised him that am the owner of the site to his utter shock and subsequent apologies…story for another day.

The quote in comparison to the others was so favourable, I could not believe my eyes; what with prices lower by as much as Kshs 3 to 5 per foot. I asked the guy why that is the case and he explained that they get their timber from Tanzania at very good prices hence the favourable prices to their customers. I swallowed that hook line and sinker and we agreed that we shall visit him at his yard and see the timber.

The day after we drove to Rongai together with my foreman and all the way to Nkoroi where the yard is located. We were loaded with the cash to do the purchase because it was meant to be a cash deal. They had very nice timber and we agreed that we shall buy from there. Immediately we agreed, he called some two transport guys and negotiated the transport on our behalf, a nice dude or so I thought. He thereafter called his men into action; around eight of them to measure the timber. We agreed that my foreman will keep any eye on the recording of the measurements while I keep an eye on the actual measurement, tight controls or so we thought. The timber was measured and loaded without any issues and truth be told I never noticed any anomaly. It was then transported to my site and offloaded.

Something crossed my mind, I thought it was wise to verify the delivery. I thus instructed the fundis to measure the timber again. To my utter shock, what I paid for as compared to what I had on the ground had a discrepancy of 40%; in other words it was 40% less. Wait….so what happened. I thought I had a hawk eye when the measuring was being done and I also accompanied one of the delivery trucks to the site while the foreman accompanied the other. Mystery, mystery…conned in broad daylight…but how??

I swung into action, called the guy and told him that he had conned me. Of course he refused. I insisted that I’ll take up the matter to the cops but he sounded unmoved. I drove back to Rongai the morning after and reported to the police station about the ordeal. The cop serving in the OB section just laughed at me and before I finished my story he asked me whether I had bought the timber from a certain yard owned by Kisiis. He confided in me that they have received so many complains about that yard and they have not managed to do anything because it is hard to prove that the guys actually steal…wait…: ”And why don’t you set a trap to confirm is they steal”, I asked him. Of course they never really bother because in the past despite arresting the owner severally, the guy always found his way out mysteriously. In my thinking this obvious pointed to something bigger and I therefore so no need of pursuing the matter further with the cops.

I went back home dejected and trying to figure out how to deal with the matter. I even contemplated using unorthodox means to recover the loss, like threatening to go for the owner head with them boys. Painful as it was, I decided to cut my losses as opposed to throwing good money in an attempt to recover the loss. How then did they steal from me??

After utilizing the timber which was far less than was needed on site, I decided to shop around and look for a place to top up. My little shopping around landed me in Kawangware where I met a lady who owned a very well stocked yard. We had a chat with her in her office and I told her about the Rongai incidence and she laughed at me. Before I narrated the entire ordeal, she told that it is commonplace and especially in some yards in Rongai to get sellers who underquote but steal from you. She advised me that it is better to pay the market rates and get value for money as opposed to look for cheap stuff and get conned. Anyway I bought timber from her and after confirming the delivery on site, it was tallying with what I paid for. But while her KYMs were measuring the timber, one opened up and confirmed that he once worked in a yard in Rongai and he had no qualms telling me the various ways they were stealing from unsuspecting customers.

It will shock you but in the next post I’ll tell you how it is done and how to arm yourself just in case some fellows have planned to do it on you. I was conned in broad daylight but some things you never wish they happen even to your worst enemy…. Be warned and advised.

The underworld of Construction: Part 3

Continued from part 2

I embarked on having controls in place to safeguard my interest; after all it was plainly obvious that all and sundry were out to milk me dry. I had to look for another hardware guy and this time round I strictly instructed him to only deliver good in the evening at around 6 PM in my presence. I’d personally verify the goods.

I also managed to get a new foreman who role was only to supervise the fundis and the KYMs and nothing else. I took charge of negotiating with suppliers and paying them. I realized that this was a big loophole in the initial set up. What the other foreman would do; he’d insist that anyone supplying anything on the site, must part with something small for him. Once a supplier is compromised, it simply means they can just enter into an arrangement to supply air as long as they both gain.

To safeguard against loss of man-hours (fundis and KYMs) I’d demand that the foreman pre-plans the work and for each phase he’d give me the labour estimates to finalize the works. I’d independently confirm whether the estimates made sense. I’d then give him some contract to finalize the works and would obviously throw the control to him. He’d then push the fundis to deliver and maybe make a small saving. That arrangement worked well for me because I’d relinquish that bit of getting the best out of the workforce.

As regards material pilferage, I took one of the guys on site and made him a mole. He’d be my eye on the ground to ensure no-one steals materials. But again bestowing all this trust on one person never brought a sense of security on my part, you see once bitten twice shy. So I got yet another mole and as long as I could get comparative info from them, it made much sense to me. And by the way, you should never keep a mole for long; after all they easily get compromised, so you keep shuffling them. I’d also make surprise visits just to ensure that am unpredictable.

The other thing which I intentionally did and which worked is to create a perception that am really very tough. The moment these fellows realize you are a weakling, they’ll take advantage of you. But when the fear is instilled in them, then they’ll think twice. If you have to slap someone, take them to the cops or whatever else you can do to instil the fear.

I managed to bring some sanity on the site after the tough lessons. The other very important thing I noted regarding procurement was the fact that same items, same quality, exact products would retail at different prices in different hardwares. You’d be shocked to sometimes even find a price difference of 20-30% in hardware’s within the same locality. Some clever hardware guys’ will also price some items cheaply and creates the perception that all their goods are fairly priced, only to inflate other goods once you become a repeat customer.

I also realized that well priced and professionally approved alternatives would also create a big saving. Like I discovered some items they call fibre mesh which act as a very good but much cheaper alternative to BRC mesh when casting the slab. You’ll also hear of pre-cast concrete blocks which I have never used which can bring a saving as opposed to the conventional mass concrete.

Finally, investing in knowledge is extremely important. Like being able to interpret a BoQ would give you an idea of the materials estimates as opposed to relying on that jua-kali foreman. Get to know what a substructure or superstructure is, even those Y12's and Y8's should not sound like Greek, and even those impregnated tank bearers and slats should not overwhelm you. There is a certain word I heard from the fundis which was quite funny…'makirigishi'…of course I had to understand what they were but I’ll leave it to your imaginations.

In thenext post I’ll tell you about how that crafty Rongai fellow conned me in the name of selling me timber…and the useless cops who could never help me....

The underworld of Construction: Part 2

Continued from part 1

You know the BoQ (Bill of Quantities) is quite interesting. It contains costs which are not so big individually but when you add the figures up, the totals are massive. When the architect brought the BoQ, it was quite tricky to understand it, being the layman I was. I am surprised these days I can make a lot of sense from it. You see when it talks of substructure, superstructure, form-works  cubic meters for mass concrete, twisted bars etc.; it can dwarf your knowledge. I demanded that the guy supplies me with a schedule of materials which is much easier to understand. You see 5 lorries of sand, or Y8s, Y12s and the likes makes more sense to a layman.

Before it escapes me I recall that incidence when we were to cast the slab and my good neighbor who had promised to give me water; a circus it became. On the materials day, the koroga squad arrived by 6 AM and quickly set up the machinery, then they proceeded to carry cement from the site house and they emptied as many as 20 bags on the ground…by the way, the operations of this koroga squad is rather organized and interesting. The toughest guys will be somewhere they call “Chini ya mnazi”; just next to the concrete mixer and their role is to load mass concrete atop wheelbarrows. The lightweights will be assigned simple tasks like pouring water, cement, sand and ballast inside the mixer. Interesting these fellows know how to balance the ratios inside the mixer…don’t ask me how they co-ordinate, please observe. Back to my neighbour’s story: When some fellows went inside my neighbor’s compound to get water, the lady of the house came out with a machete claiming that the water was given without her authority. The man being a man wanted to show his authority and attempted to force the lady into submission but when the machete was wrestled from her, she started wailing and close the gate. She held onto the keys like her life depended on them. I had to utilize my negotiation skills but they never worked till I parted with some 2k to appease the lady and finally she gave in.

Life gets quite interesting. You know the same lady was once thrown out of the house by the husband and the dude disappeared to Western and switched off his phone. I found her outside the gate and she pleaded with me for some coins to take her to her Meru. Of course I remembered the water incident but decided to let it pass and I gave her cash enough to eat some meal and ferry her stuff to her shags.

Back to the construction of my house: You see I noted that I had lost it and fired all the workforce and I had to figure out how to move on. But I had to understand how these fellows were stealing from me. And so I confided in one fellow and he opened up. The fellow eventually became my mole. The chief architect of the thefts was none other than my own brother (who was to be my eye on the ground). He was a wolf in sheep’s skin. You see he knew what all the others were doing and he’d get a cut from each. He was the guy who was meant to confirm and receive supplies in my absence. Some of the deliveries were less and I’d pay for the expected full deliveries. It is very easy to receive 9 cements and pay for 10, after all the difference of one when already utilized is barely noticeable. The hardware guy would bill me for quantities which were not fully delivered. I’d only check on the delivery notes and assume that what was there was accurate. The foreman was also cheeky; he had two sites and would utilize some of the KYMs on the other site whereas I was the one paying them. Just before I arrived in the evening, I’d find them on my site and assume they worked the whole day. Poor me.

I knew the only way out was to install controls at all these levels. I also had to have a grip of the procurement process because therein was the biggest loss. The controls worked wonders and I’ll outline them in the next post. However, this never prevented me from being conned by the timber guy in Rongai. This was my last loss but I learnt a lot from it. More in the next post.

The underworld of Construction: Part 1

Guest post by Samuel G. Njenga

I constructed and my final verdict is that everyone on that site was a thief unless they proved otherwise. You see these fellows thought that I had loads of cash (limitless) and all they wanted was to squeeze the most out of me, illegally and otherwise.

I set out to do my residential house with the little cash I had and hoped against hope that someday I’ll live in my own home. The dream came to pass but by the end of the project, I had some Solomonic wisdom regarding the dealings in that world; which I will share with you. The trusted hardware supplier stole in cohort with the clerk of works, the jua kali foreman stole, the timber guy based in Rongai stole, the KYMs stole cement, the fundis stole man hours and my rogue brother meant to assist reduce the pilferages also colluded with them that stole…but they only did it for a short time because my eagle eyes and a bit of investigative skills and that mole, actually two of them helped me…Someday I woke up and decided enough was enough, slapped the foreman after a lengthy rebuke, fired all of them workers, sat down and reflected on the way forward, installed controls before resuming the construction….welcome to the underworld that construction has become.

It started with profiling of the house and using lime to mark where trenches were to be dug. No sooner than the markings were done, a gang of Mungiki youths showed up demanding to dig the trenches, in their own words, that work was set aside for them and no-one else. And you see they were to charge some fee 3 times compared to the usual charges from other KYMs…of course I told them I had no money and will call them when am ready only for them to show up a few days later and find the trenches already dug. Few threats here and there but they disappeared into thin air.

Then I met this guy who would supply everything in this world and dude is an architect by profession. Kamau will have a solution to all problems; he will get you fine sand from somewhere past Athi-River, he’d hook you up with some cheap AFCO cement, he owns a lorry that he’d use to get foundation stones somewhere in Ruiru, Ndarugu stones as well. Wait…Kamau knew where to also get some nice trees which we can split and get timber…actually that guy who prepares the timber is a good friend of his…this Kamau even had the best of painters and metal fabricators around. The interesting thing about Kamau is that he even proposed redesigning my house to make the roof better, space utilization…sijui nini…and so I asked him, “Kwani Kamau you know everything, what is you speciality ” I smelled a big rat here and avoided Kamau like a plague. And by the way he used to sniff snuff; that powdered tobacco…and that really put me off and so I dismissed him.

By the way, when they were digging those trenches for the foundation, it emerged that the hard rock was as many as 7 to 10 feet below ground level. You see when I flashed back to that time I was buying that kaplot and that agent who usually drinks himself silly showed me some rocky area within the plot and I thought that doing the foundation would be very easy on that plot only to be confronted by that thick layer of hard core stones upon digging the trenches. So this place was actually a quarry at some point, which was back filled with hard core stones and a layer of 1 foot thick cotton soil; so in other words what I bought was a quarry plot. This architect of mine who doubled up as a structural engineer returned a verdict that we could only suspend the house as opposed to doing 7 to 10 courses of foundation stones…..suspend the house..in the air or what?..I wondered. So he explained the concept of suspending…doing columns to the level of the hard rock, then some beams at ground level to support the walls..

Then I realized that not only had I got a raw deal of a plot, but I was in for some more surprises…most of them very costly….and I will tell you how I formed a habit of whistling subconsciously when confronted with those costly surprises…and this neighbor of mine who promised to give me water for koroga only for the wife to decline on the material day of koroga, having already assembled the team and machinery and my begging mission to salvage the situation that had boiled down to a teary fight between man and wife……more in the next post.

Of inherited land and selling: Part 2

Continued from part 1

Alex is a smooth talker, no wonder he actually always had a way of convincing even the toughest of the fairer sex and of course his stint as a pastor gave him a chance to horn this attribute. Typical of him to first mention religious matters and keen to know how I was doing in that regard. After laying the base with the religious niceties he dropped the bombshell. Of course I knew of how he sold his inherited property, bought a cheaper plot, build the mabati house and squandered the rest. So when he narrated how he had this nice business idea that I buy a taxi, he runs it, grow the business into a fleet of taxis bla bla; it was never lost on me what he had gone through.

And so I asked him, “How comes you never thought of buying that Taxi with the cash you had after sale of the ½ acre plot?” He was quick to answer, “of course I had thought of that but opted to start the business of importing mitumbas which unfortunately never really kicked off and somehow the cash I had kept diminishing to a point where it dried up mysteriously” I knew I was in a scenario where I had to wriggle my way out because in all fairness I never felt that buying a taxi would amount to a worthwhile venture, not with him as the main guy. Actually, the idea of entrusting my good friend with a business having known his history was the last thing I’d entertain.

However, this was a friend in dire need of help and leaving him in that status would not be good. And so, I floated an idea to him that in my opinion seemed workable and practical. I told him of a housing development we were undertaking and that I’d recommend him to the Project Manager just to assist him source materials. Just to go round looking for the best deal for sand, ballast, quarry stones, cement and any other material the guy could get just for some small commissions. Interestingly, he accepted that idea and as we speak he is a broker sort of and doing just fine. At least he can feed and clothe his family and even educate the kids.

Whenever I speak to him he wishes he’d turn back the hands of time especially due to the lost time but at least he is now much more positive about his life and earns an honest living. He claims he’d can never sell anything he inherits as he is convinced that there is a curse on ‘that land’. Of course he hopes that there is more land to inherit form his mum but it may not be the case.

Someday I asked my old man the reason why anyone who sold inherited land around our village always squandered the cash. He told me that it had an interesting history around it. The land was acquired after the infamous Mau Mau war with the colonial masters. It claimed many lives and some people were maimed and all that. When our great grandfathers got the land, having been active fighters, they pronounced a curse on it; that it must never be sold outside the family and it must be passed on from generation to generation. Any sale had to be within the family. It is therefore the case that anyone who sells to anyone outside the family will therefore never help themselves. An interesting perspective but I opted not to engage my old man further on the matter.

Some very strange stories around my village regarding fellows who have sold inherited land. The funniest was this guy who sold the small piece he inherited. He called the villagers from all walks of life, bought them 5 goats, dug a big trench and jumped over it, leaving the villagers on the other side of the trench. The trench and the subsequent jumping was a symbol of him having the crossed the divide from poverty to riches. He waved the villagers bye and zoomed off into riches leaving them to enjoy the 5 goats to mark the big occasion. Sad part is that he left his family as well only to return back after 1 year having squandered all the cash. Of course he found the wife had already left and got married to someone else and moved on with her life. His only brother accepted him back and gave him some shelter….interestingly it was a story reminiscent of that prodigal son in the bible; I guess these things started way back. Pretty sad that they never learn from other's past experiences. Someone told me that this is tantamount to get bitten by a dog which is chained somewhere.

A friend of mine once told me that the reason these villager have failed to do anything worthwhile with the cash is the fact that they are not used to big money. Obviously if you are playing in the league of maximum ten thousands and all of a sudden you have a windfall of a million, the natural reaction is to assume that you are filthy rich. Most become very generous and get to shopping sprees, get away with some nice girls and assume life will always be like that. Certainly no big money remains big if all you are doing is spending; the net result is a shot back to reality and destitution which is much worse having come from the crest of a sinusoidal wave.

Let our people learn, that whatever you have worked hard for and is acquired through your own sweat, you can freely sell but what you acquired by way of inheritance, you need to pass on to the ones behind you.

Next we shall look at some business practices which are not so good that are attributable to business men who are seemingly doing well; think micromanagement (know when to let go), blowing your own horn as opposed to that of the team, leading as opposed to managing, amongst others.

Of inherited land and selling: Part 1

Guest post by Samuel G. Njenga

I met this friend and neighbor in a burial of my cousin in shags. He had requested for a meeting with me after the burial citing a very important issue he wanted us to discuss. I took him to the local shopping center and we got into a café, ordered tea and some mandazis. I was very eager to hear from this longtime friend of mine.

Alex has been a buddy of mine since we were kids. We were born the same year, grew up in shags together, played childhood games together and went to school together. I vividly remembered how he used to pass by our home early in the morning so that we head to primary school together, carrying our books in paper bags and carrying our food in those Kasuku boxes. Life was hard but we really enjoyed. Simple times and simple days when my biggest ambition was to become a pilot beyond schooling; of course I never became one, but I guess someday I’ll buy a helicopter and learn how to fly.

The Alex in front of me was a former shadow of himself; it seemed life had really harassed him. His was a life of extremes. In his later years of primary school he became a rebel child, beating up other kids and generally misbehaving. He later joined bad company and decided to pull out from school. His mum got so disappointed and kind of gave up on him, after all he never knew a father figure having lost his dad when he was barely two years of age. Alex later graduated into a village thief, stealing chicken and cows and whatever else he came across. Of course he was always being looked for by law enforcers due to his stupid acts of stealing. He survived several attempts to lynch him. After all, the villagers knew him and thought that he would reform at some point.

Things got worse when he started abusing hard drugs. This combined with his criminal tendencies finally landed him in jail where he stayed for four years. By then we had lost contact as I had left shags for my campus life and later got employed. After serving his term, he returned home only to find that the society had sort of rejected him. It was a frustrating life for him up to a point when he attempted to commit suicide. He however never succeeded and was rushed to hospital and survived. When I heard of his suicide attempt, I felt that I needed to do something and went looking out for him. I managed to convince him to join a rehab. Sure enough after several month of rehab he came out a totally changed person.

He started doing menial jobs and joined the church. Being a survivor, he grew in the church and eventually opened his own church. However, the church never lasted for long and it closed down around two years ago.

Alex’s father had left some 3 acre piece of land and the mother held it for sometimes till sometimes last year when she decided to subdivide the land and give each of his 6 sons a piece. My friend Alex got his share of ½ acre somewhere in the interior Kiambu. He is a man of many ideas and life having not gone as planned; he decided to sell his ½ acre. When I asked him why he made such a decision, his explanation was simple. He had planned to purchase some 1/8th acre in a not so prime location with the proceeds of the sale, and then build a mabati house with the balance and whatever remains; he’d start a small business. Sure enough, he bought the plot and built the mabati house. That is the last I heard of him till he started looking for me.

The guy I saw in front of me never looked like he ever came across ‘big money’. He held his chin and started his story. Of course the bug that has bitten so many of my village mates had finally bitten my friend. The last time I went to the village, I found like 70% of my immediate neighbours had sold the small plots and moved. So many new faces around our home area coz majority of the youthful guys have sold the small inherited plots in search of better life and dubious business ventures. So sad….that the story my good friend Alex used to give me of villagers who sold their land and messed up was about to unfold…that proverb about the firewood in the rack laughing at the firewood in the fire, without knowing that it is next in line???…some direct translation here.

Next post, I shall tell you what he told me and I felt like giving him a pin to pinch himself back to reality.

Retiring into the unknown: Part 2

Continued from part 1.

John was a rather creative character and always won arguments, the type of guys who will always have a final word in any argument. However, he looked frail and was curiously listening to me. It is not easy to advise a guy who was my manager at some point because in his head he still had the mentality that am junior to him in terms of years and everything else. However, knowing his status at that point in time, I felt obliged to just say what I had in mind just to get the feeling that I did something to save the situation.

And so I asked him, “why are you so convinced that life in Taveta will be too hard for you, aren't there happy and rich men there, what is it they do?” He gazed at me and retorted, “my good friend, it is not as easy as it looks. People in the village know that I was a big shot in the Parastatal, I even assisted a few to get employment there. Going back to the village and having nothing to do there would not augur well for me. It is complicated because at the moment I am reliant on my daughter a lot who pays the rent and buys food.” he concluded.

  

I realized that it was even tougher for me to convince him otherwise. However, I insisted that he had to humble himself, swallow his pride and map out a way out of his quagmire. I told him to compare his current status that seemed to be inviting death and the option of going to the village where he would grow old gracefully watching his grand children grow. After all, the villagers will always talk, whether you are doing well or not. Macho ya chura hayo. After much probing, I realized that he actually owned a 3 acre piece somewhere in Taveta where his wife was residing. The land was idle. He further disclosed that his wife was working in some sisal farm as a farm hand and the last she saw of her was 2 years ago. I jokingly asked him whether he has a side dish of which he laughed uncontrollably and finally said that those things I feel them no more….whatever that meant.

The John I knew at the workplace was a creative guy who would get a solution to all manner of issues. I recounted how he used to motivate us and insisting that we should always think outside the box. I told him that it was his turn to think outside the box. You surely must get a solution to your mess. If you don’t, who will? I reminded him that in life, the biggest issue it to conquer oneself. The biggest stumbling block is what you have fed your mind. It was thus important that you start seeing yourself rising above this challenge.

Analysing his scenario, I made him realize that he was adding no value in his life by hanging around Nairobi where cost of living was really high and of course drinking off his frustrations was tantamount to burying his head in the sand. Realizing that I had no much time left before proceeding to my earlier destination, I posed and asked him the big question. “What do you think are the practical steps that you can take to get things going?”

It took him some hard thinking but he amazingly recounted what he would do. In summary he mentioned the following:

1.             That he’d go back to the village, after all he all along knew that he was doing nothing in Nairobi.

2.             That he’ll convince the daughter who has been supporting her to give her some capital injection aimed at doing something of economic value on his 3 acre piece in Taveta. Further, the few expected monthly pension amounts would go towards boosting what he’ll decide to do with at the farm and also build a simple house at the farm.

3.             Regarding drinking, he said that it would not be easy to stop but he’d at least stop taking the illicit type. Fair enough I thought.

The jokingly I asked him how he’ll deal with the villagers who thought he is a rich big man in Nairobi…He laughed and noted that he’ll distort the truth and tell them that he opted to trade his usual life of big cars and posh life in Nairobi to settling in the village now that he needed a breath of fresh air and to grow old gracefully.

I started feeling like I had achieved something, so after paying the bills, I stood and waved him goodbye but he stopped me and reminded me of the KES 100 he had earlier requested. I had been so engrossed in the conversation and had forgotten that bit. I removed a KES 1000 note, gave him and told him to mind what he had just said regarding the solution to his issues and was quick to remind him that one of the resolutions was to quit illicit brew. With the widest of grins, he said that 1k is more than enough for a few bottles of Tusker.

I took his cell phone number and quickly disappeared into the horizon hoping against hope that I he will take it upon himself to refocus his life and do something meaningful in his sunset years.

How many Johns do we have with us, some are our fathers, uncles, aunts, brothers, sisters and mothers? Troubles of the retired who never prepared well in advance. Where I come from, there is a proverb that says something to the effect that a tree is only shaped when it is small. We must plan for retirement and early enough.

In the next post we explore how best we can plan for retirement and actually retireearly.

Retiring into the unknown: Part 1

Guest post by Samuel G. Njenga

Around 2 years ago, I met John somewhere in Donholm Estate. At first I had not recognized him, in fact you’d not blame me for not recognizing him. John was my former boss in some Parastatal that I worked for 2 years in my early working life. He was a good boss, big bodied and exuded loads of confidence. But wait, the John I met looked much slimmer and the pot belly had shrunk and he looked much older. He smelt of cheap alcohol and I could barely stand next to him coz of the stench. I could not believe my eyes.

“Boss, haki maisha imekuwa ngumu. Hebu nipatie soo kuna kitu nataka kuenda kununua”, he said. This is the guy who used to order me around and looked like he was generally doing well. What I was seeing was totally beyond me. Of course I was very keen to get to know when the rain started beating him. I requested him that we get to some food joint so that we get a chance to talk as we eat.

John’s story was as sad as they come. As soon as I left the Parastatal, he retired having reached the mandatory retirement age. John came from Taita Taveta and had worked for the Parastatal for all his working life.

“But I thought on being retrenched you got your handsome retirement package and you probably receive monthly pension”, I asked him. He confirmed that he received some cash to the tune of 1.6M lumpsum and he also was getting some monthly pension of around 15k. So I asked him what happened with the cash. “Kusema ukweli, mambo haikuniendea vile nilikuwa natarajia”, he uttered the words in his coastal accent.

I probed him further and discovered that after retirement he stuck around Nairobi, bought a matatu which was run down and which he later sold at a throw away price. The balance on the lumpsum he used to pays school fees for his daughter’s university education. Then I asked him why he is still around Nairobi whereas he could have gone to Taveta and live there. His response was totally unexpected. “Wajua huko kumekauka, hakuna cha kufanya wala sina nyumba huko so sioni haja ya kuenda huko”.

To cut the long story short, I discovered that he was in Nairobi doing nothing but drinking himself silly. In fact the 100 shillings he was asking for was most likely to end up in some changaa den. From boardrooms to the crazy matatu world and finally to the bizarre world of drunkards of illicit brew. In more likelihood, the destination of this man would be an early grave. But being a positive thinker, I felt there was a way out of his not so pleasant situation.

After all the instances of the dress downs he may have given me as my boss, his authority notwithstanding, I saw a man who had lost it and was probably just waiting to die and had to reverse the roles. After all, before I could release the few coins he so badly needed to quench his insatiable thirst of alcohol, I had to give him some harsh and hopefully helpful word. His is a classic case of a man who had lost it, one who failed to organize his life despite being in employment for long and earning some not so bad cash.

Next post will dwell on the advice I gave him and how best those in employment can prepare for retirement.

How to write a Will: Part 1

Guest post by Samuel G. Njenga

We all know we should make a will, but it’s one of those things that many of us never seem to get round to. We keep procrastinating. In fact, it’s estimated that one in three people die without ever having made one.

Making a will now prevents a financial headache for your family when you die. But not making a will may mean chaos and financial worry for your family or dependants after you've gone. Without one, you can't be sure that your money and property will be passed on according to your wishes.

If you die without a will (called dying intestate), the intestacy rules takes over your estate. This one largely depends on how fast the family can agree and decide on a successor and the probate process starts. I may not go through the process at this stage but it gets long and winding if no agreement comes forth from the supposed heirs. What will court cases and feuds, and awaiting court’s judgements.

A will that is not properly signed and witnessed is invalid. In Kenya, at least two witnesses are required. A witness does not need any special qualification or public standing but is merely witnessing your signature. However, they must not have any beneficial interest in the will as this could make the will invalid.

It is always wise to use an advocate to prepare your will just to ensure that it is valid, sufficient and is consistent.

It's sensible to review your will every few years and consider amending it or even writing a new one if there is a change in circumstances, such as if you get married, have children or get divorced. Changes to a will can be made by codicil – an addendum to the original will – or by revoking the old will and drawing up a new one. You can revoke a will by physically destroying it. If the change is relatively simple, you can write a codicil (a supplement or appendix to a will) and get it witnessed, and keep it with your existing will. But you should not alter the original will.

If you wish to make a new will, it should begin with a clause stating that it revokes all previous wills and codicils. If the changes are complicated, such as you remarry, it is better to seek legal advice on drawing up the new will.

Most wills are made up of cash legacies, bequests and the residue. You can leave cash to relatives, friends or charities – these are usually fixed sums to named individuals. You can also bequeath your possessions (including property) and treasured objects to whoever you wish.

What’s left after all the debts, tax and fees have been paid is the ‘residue’. This can be left to one person, or it can be shared out among several individuals.

If you share ownership with a spouse or partner, your worth is half its market value, less your share of the mortgage. Property can held in two ways - either as joint tenants or tenants in common as earlier explained.

If your property is held in a joint tenancy, your half of the property will pass to the surviving joint tenant automatically.

If your property is held in a tenancy in common, you can leave your share of property to someone else in your will. They will then become a tenant in common with the other owner of your property.

For children under 18, you should say who you wish to be their guardians if both parents die, and where the money will come from to look after them. This is usually made in the form of trusts.

If children inherit money and/or property, it is held in trust until they are 18 (or until they marry if earlier). If you don't specify how the trust should be managed, it will be dealt with according to the 'trustee laws of Kenya', which let the executors deal with the fund.

Who are executors?

Executors are people that carry out your wishes in accordance with your will. It's best practice to name more than one executor (or one executor and a substitute). These can be relatives, friends or even an attorney.

In most cases (unless your estate is particularly complex) lay executors are preferable. If they need professional help to administer your estate they can commission probate services.

Beneficiaries can act as executors.

It is possible to make a will without professional assistance (DIY), and many people do so successfully, but it is also very easy to make a mistake when writing the will or signing it, which can render it invalid or ambiguous.

NB: Make sure that your beneficiaries do not access the will before you kick the bucket. Some may decide to dispatch you to your maker faster than you intend to go if they deem you more valuable when dead as opposed to alive.

In the next post, we shall feature a raw example of a will.

In real estate location is almost everything

Learn to determine good locations

Guest post by Young

When it comes to real estate investment, it is often said that the secret to success is location, location and location. Where you invest is generally more important than how much you invest.

There is a very strong link between where your real estate investment is located and the financial success you will enjoy. There are several examples of individuals with access to a lot of money and who also invested in real estate but 10 years down the line, although their investment has appreciated, they had more feeling of regret than satisfaction because they later discovered several other locations they could have invested in that had experienced exponential appreciation.

Thus, it is important to note, that merely owning real estate is not the secret of successful investment but owning the right piece of real estate at the right price. Let’s examine a few factors to consider before you buy a piece of real estate.

Firstly, invest where growth is coming. There are areas of a state or local government where growth factors seem to be converging. For instance, imagine a location already earmarked by the government as the permanent site for a university. Often, a certain area gradually begins to attract certain kinds of businesses and opportunities. When you invest in an area where growth is coming, you cannot miss a financial breakthrough. The other advantage is that if you are a little wrong in the investment the growth will bail you out.

Secondly, observe the population or demographic trends in the state or area you are planning to invest. Population growth is one of the impetuses for the demand for real estate. All other things being equal, if you can identify areas where a lot of people are moving to you have found a place where the real estate will appreciate rapidly. The increase in population will increase the demand for accommodation and that will affect the value of land. This process will accelerate whenever there is a high influx of people into an area. So if you are planning on investing in rental property, consider areas with high population or potentially high population.

Thirdly, evaluate the social cum infrastructural advantages of the area. What is the crime rate? Does this neighbourhood have great schools that will attract families there? Are there work, retail, recreational and religious centres nearby? As you seek to answer these questions, it will give you an insight into the potential of the neighbourhood you are seeking to invest in. One of the common sense rules is that a person should avoid living in an environment that is far below his or her social grouping. When your standing is far higher than that of your neighbours you may attract undue attention which may expose you to certain security risks. And if you observe it, the more secure and better equipped an area is, the higher the rental incomes and all other real estate values. This is generally the reason why estates or Government Reserved Areas appreciate faster. Such areas are usually more organised and because they are enclosed, often have unified security arrangements.

Fourthly, proximity to centres of economic productivity. Most times, people love to live not too far from where they work. In fact, if you draw concentric circles all around certain areas where offices, industries and commercial centres are located, you will discover that fast appreciating real estate properties are not more than 5 to 15km from those areas. One good indicator to follow is the major highways or arterial roads. Somewhere along or off such areas are places that will yield good dividends for an investor. The demand for real estate often corresponds with areas with increasing wages. Traditionally, areas or cities with stable employment in the government sector, educational sector and medical sector or a combination of these sectors will enjoy rapid real estate value growth. This is why political or economic capital cities and areas close to them enjoy rapid appreciation.

Finally, if you have the required fund to invest, buy in an area with little buildable land. Often, these areas are expensive but often enjoy strong demands that often push rentals and real estate prices up thus, enhancing your profitability. Upward pressures on real estate prices are often greatest in such areas. Moreover, most of such areas are “matured” in terms of infrastructure; that is, they often have basic infrastructures, schools, accessibility, nearness to markets and commercial centres. Government presence and interest are often high and the competitions for real estate in these areas are reduced because of the high barriers to entry. Since you technically cannot manufacture any more land these areas will continue to generate faster returns on investments.

I recommend that in making a choice of where to invest, you do a comparative analysis of a few neighbourhoods, listing basic criteria and scoring them based on your observation or research. The essence of this is to ensure that you make an informed decision on where to buy and that it should be an excellent investment decision.

Advice for starters

Locate GENUINE bush or penny plots that have flexible payment plans and potentials to appreciate using LIDT;

L Location

I Infrastructure

D Demand

T Time (The earlier the cheaper)

Be bold at times to use some of your gains in stocks to invest in real estate, if you are keenly interested in diversifying your asset class.

Next, we shall talk about how best to involve your kids in your business.