Since I came to Nairobi four years ago to work for a foods and beverages company, I had never been so eager to go home than that day President Uhuru Kenyatta announced the lifting of the cessation of movement in and out of Nairobi.
Having had lost my manual job two months earlier as a result of economic shutdown occasioned by the coronavirus pandemic, my stay in the city was on borrowed time.
I had no business being in town without a job yet I needed to eat, service my monthly bills, pay rent and do everything else that requires money. However, the cessation of movement imposed on Nairobi could not let me travel to my rural home in Kisii where I needed to be as I figured my next course of action.
That is why this particular announcement by the President was so important to me than anything else. With this announcement, I was not going to pester my friends and relatives any further to continue supporting my stay in Nairobi.
So, the following day determined that I was going to sleep in Kisii, I woke up very early and disposed all my house items to a second-hand dealer. I knew I was not going to be back to town any time soon.
With cash in hand, I settled my outstanding rent arrears. The hawk-eyed caretaker was carefully monitoring me to ensure I didn't leave before paying him every dime. After this my next stop was Nairobi CBD where I was to take a bus to Kisii.
However, unknown to me was that I was going to be at the bus stage for a couple of days and spend all my fare paying for food and accommodation in dingy lodgings. This was after the government announced that every PSV ferrying travellers from Nairobi had to meet certain COVID-19 safety measures.
Long and short of it, the day finally came when buses were cleared to travel but I had no money left with me. Worse still I could not go back to the rental house I had surrendered some few days ago. I was in a thick fix!
It was as I was scrolling through my phone absentmindedly that the OKash app I had downloaded many months ago and only borrowed from a few times, got my attention.
I wasn't sure what to expect or get from an app that I had not been actively engaged with for many months. But believe it or not, I was astounded to find that I could borrow almost double the amount of what I had accessed the last time I borrowed from the app.
I went ahead and borrowed the indicated amount and the cash was in my M-Pesa in a matter of minutes. As I write this, I am in Kisii home where I have been since then. I recently enquired from the OKash Facebook page how I was able to access that loan and yet I had not borrowed from them for some time.
I was told that my credit score was good as I had not defaulted on any of their previous loans and that I had always been timely in making repayments.
Thank you OKash for getting me out of that thick fix that had left me standing between a rock and a hard place!
From OKash Customer.