Mohammed Hersi . A hotelier passionate about Tourism & Governance in Africa

Every end year as members of a gated community ( a very nice middle income neighborhood in Mombasa made mainly of professionals) we come together and raise some money to give to our security guards and caretaker.

Despite the hard times, once I made the call as their chairman the good neigbours were quick to send in their donation.

Within 24 hours the beneficiaries received their share which was close to a months salary via Mpesa. All of them sent a quick Asante text which I consider a sign of good upbringing and gratitude which is a virtue many dont have even in formal employment.

As I was driving out we engaged in chit chat with two of the guards and I asked to verify what I received against what I shared . I asked one of them to help me do the maths and he was quick to whip out his phone. I was also going to give them a small amount that had come through which I was going to give them in cash.

In the process we discovered that I had missed out on one contribution and I apologised and made amends.

One guard then asked me, why am I doing all this since they dont owe us anything and what they received is already good enough. My answer was simple, I was only a custodian and a channel.

You could see a light bulb moment and he said ” Enyewe hapo ni kweli “

I took the opportunity to tell them that illicit amassing of Ill gotten wealth meant for publics well being is nothing but poison. When you steal funds meant for primary education or primary health care to live large trust me it will come to haunt you in many ways including through your family.

There is one Almighty God you cannot deceive…. don’t ask too many questions why none of your children are turning out straight and successful. How can that happen when you denied the children of less fortunate in society to acess quality education? You swallowed funds for laptop projects ? You made nonsense of health procurement and stashed billions in your private personal account while medics ( some so young ) die because they could not get PPE’s and the list can go on and on …..by the way the bad guys spare nothing even antiretroviral drugs for HIV patients was never safe.

I then told them about minimalist lifestyle. One of my favourite author Gary Hamel one time said ” Quality of life can never be improved beyond a certain point irrespective of how much you earn”. Simply put you can only drive one car, sleep in one house , one room , in one bed, eat from one plate and only so much .

Final Thought

There is no harm in getting wealthy but do you know that people who made their money in a clean way end up giving it back to mankind . Bill Gates , Warren Buffet et al.

I then told them in death you leave this earth with nothing , the most some may take is suit and expensive coffin others even get cremated and in my case Islam you only get a white bedsheet that is not worth even 300 Bob. After all is said and done you depart with nothing. Zero. Your deeds is what will count if you are believer.

In our case the same bad guys who stole from us when they die the relatives will again ask us to send in our Mpesa contribution can you imagine in that even in death they are not done with us.

Please dont blame the family because these bad guys hide everything in personal accounts and some pseudo accounts and the immediate family cant even acess the funds awaiting for banks due processes. Then all sorts of children and ” wife’s ” will pop from every corner across the city filing cases demanding a DNA test and the official battle for the Ill gotten wealth is yet to begins.

Good people this is meant for the bad guys….Kenya and Africa is NOT poor because of lack of resources. Almighty God has been overly kind to us with natural resources that the rest of the world can only dream of.

Did you know that Congo river can power the whole of Africa ?

Did you know that Tana Delta can produce all the rice and maize we need in this country?

Next time you meet one of these thieves and they are known please show them your disgust and dont give them your quality time and when you see their Mpesa appeal simply flip to the next page of the paper. Trust me it will haunt them with their loved ones.

If you are one of those bad guys It is never too late to do the right thing ….stop dipping your hands in the public coffers eating the lifes and future of other generations.

As we leave 2020 a tough year please reflect hard and if you are one of them please change your ways , it is never too late .

Let me hear your thoughts and as always I choose to remain an optimist.

Mohammed Hersi
Mombasa .
Kenya