BUSINESS
'Njaanuary' is one month of the year that comes in with a fair share of economic hardships and challenges leading some if not many people, to resort to desperate measures in order to continue making ends meet.
By 254 NewsDay Reporter.
However, 'Njaanuary' 2020, as many can admit, is not your typical January especially among millions of average Kenyans who survive from hand to mouth.
This 'Njaanuary' knocked in at a time when the country is engulfed in a thick nebulous cloud of economic downturn that has seen both the cost of living and state of pennilessness go up at the same time.
This precarious economic situation among other things, is what makes this year's January special albeit in a bad way unfortunately.
Caught up in between this thick web of lack of money and skyrocketing cost of living, is one Esther Wanjiru* (not her real name), whom a few days ago unable to solve the complex financial puzzle before her, had sought the services of a local Shylock at her neighbourhood in Witeithie, Juja where she resides as she goes about her small roadside 'githeri' business.
And just as noted earlier in this article, once at the Shylock's den, Wanjiru told 254 NewsDay reporter on Sunday, she was shocked by the allay of requirements that the Shylock presented to her that included bringing a 'reliable' guarantor, before she could lend her the Sh50,000 she was seeking for.
"I decided from the beginning that I would take my new fridge and five-month-old TV set when the Shylock started to mention a whole list of things he said I could bring him to secure my intended loan. But what awed me was when he told me that I needed someone to guarantee my loan. Where the hell was I going to get such a person and I came to Witeithie less than 3 months ago? I asked myself," said Wanjiru in Swahili during a prearranged interview.
"But since I was in dire need of money, I hit the road in search of a guarantor. It is during this hopeless expedition that I actually found a way out of my simmering financial situation. One of my business neighbours who I had approached to serve as guarantor after many friends refused, introduced me to OKash mobile loan app where I obtained a loan immediately after few procedures. I bet the Shylock is still waiting for me," she adds before breaking out with an infectious laughter.
Wanjiru admits that she had heard a lot about OKash app before then, but had not taken much interest in it till 'Karma' came calling with a raft of an unimaginable demands.
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DISCLAIMER: The interviewee's name has been changed to protect her identity and privacy and as such, any other person(s) who may bear similar name, it is by sheer coincidence and NOT the one focused in this story. We got in touch with Wanjiru* after she sought to tell her experience with the said Shylock following an earlier story appearing on this site.