Oral East Africa>Kenyan Wordsmith who spoke Pan African scrabble into existence: Part IV At the hut of the story

For six years Mr Andabwa operated Musoli supermarket without getting any real returns.

The idea of operating a sizeable fast moving consumer goods shop in a nice location had in the end failed. By the time he shut it down, it had left him broke, and he struggled to pay suppliers.

He had to negotiate for rent arrears which he paid over time in installments.

“As bankers we came working with integrity, but what I found was a lot of shop lifting by both staff and outsiders a lot of shrinkage,” he said.

Just like our parents, as we get pushed out of jobs and rush to businesses we are bound to make the same mistakes.

The moral bankers who put integrity on sale

When he said this he reminded me of my father’s own foray into business. Like a true luhya my father went with a posho mill and a retail shop.

We provided uninspired labour and ate sweets sometimes, and I realized I was part of the reason some of these ventures relying on cheap labour failed.

Kenya finds itself just at the same place like the 1990s, experiencing the fallout of IMF’s structural adjustment programmes.

Just like our parents, as we get pushed out of jobs and rush to businesses we are bound to make the same mistakes. I ask him what are some of the lessons of this transition.

He said they were unprepared mostly.

Nothing says unprepared like the way most our parents named the businesses they started. Just like my father they simply joined initials of their names and their wives, to show their value for shared tragedy.

When faced with the realities of business most of the ventures crumpled and fell apart as quickly as they were put together.

Mr Andabwa said he considered using his and his wife's initials too but then decided against it.

"I thought about that myself, when registering the business, I really thought about it, what could inspire one might not inspire others. I thought about our names, It made very good syllables combination, but I felt people may read too much in that," he said.

Instead he went for the name of his birthplace, Musoli. Saying when choosing a name it is always easy to go with the name of the place where one comes from.

One would be lucky if the return to the village, is only in search for name. When in search for business, the realities could be way less effective.

My father soon realized that in the village someone wanted to trade two eggs to pay for grinding flour at his Posho mill.

Mr Andabwa says that having travelled the world playing scrabble he saw in countries that retailers had these buzzers which if you tried to leave the shop without paying would blare attention to you.

Lack of such technology here meant he lost inventory and his business.

The old man had been a trainer at Barclays and and manager at Kiambu Branch

Serve the community

As Mr Andabwa’s supermarket collapsed, it however gave him an opportunity to really sit back and find his place in the community.

He joined the board of directors for local schools, where he counseled students and helped pay for school fees and meals seeing some of them through school.

He is proud of some of those he has given advise to, some who have turned out masons, to mechanics and some who have gone ahead to open their own shops and employ others.

The old man who had been a trainer at Barclays and and manager at Kiambu Branch says he also makes his contribution to his community through the church.

“Young people have forgotten the church. Participating in the church is one way of helping people. For us Catholics we are encouraged to give.

You check your wardrobe and some clothes you have never seen for years. If you do not achieve the environment that encourages you to give, you just keep accumulating.

You throw away food when someone over the fence has not eaten.

He said.