NAIROBI, Kenya - As they watched their favourite English Premier League (EPL) teams, Chelsea FC and Manchester United FC battle to a nail-biting 2-2 draw last Saturday hundreds of miles apart, Barnabas Kithia and Florence Mukami, did not know fate would conspire to turn them into instant millionaires.
Hailing from Maua, Meru County and Banana, Kiambu County in that order, Kithia, 27 and Mukami, 30 met in Kenya’s capital Nairobi on Monday- beaming from ear to ear after each won a share of the SportPesa Midweek Jackpot- scooping over KSh8.2m apiece.
Their love for the game, particularly EPL heavyweights, the Blues from London and Red Devils of Manchester, inspired them to start playing on the leading gaming platform in Africa in 2015 and 16 respectively.
They had no inkling that one day the stars would align and they would meet at the firm’s head offices on Monday (October 22), where they gathered alongside five others in celebrating a big payday.
Richard Mwebi Kwang’a, Robert Rono, Elphas Atsangalala, Reuben Chengo and Jali were the other winners who split an equal share of KSh8,245,419 each from last week’s KSh57,717,933 midweek jackpot for correctly predicting 13 football games.
“I feel great. On Sunday, I was chewing Miraa with my friends at a hotel in Maili Tatu near Maua town, when I received a congratulatory message from SportPesa indicating I had won eight million shillings. Moments later, a call came through asking me to be in Nairobi this (Monday) morning.
“I was not even following how the teams I had selected for the jackpot were performing, I was just having a good time. When the message came through, I pulled out one of my friends and shared the news with him, I did not want to cause a commotion,” Kithia, a father of two daughters publicized.
Fell flat
The other five slips he filled as he took more chances to win he acknowledged, “Fell flat.”
“When I started playing on the SportPesa platform in 2016, I had never taken part in the jackpot. I’m beyond happy, at least now I can reconstruct my life by investing the money.
“I was at home at around 8pm (+3GMT) and having completed my chores, I checked on my phone and saw Derby (County FC) were leading and with all other predictions having gone through, nilikaza isikuwe draw kwasababu nilikuwa nimeipee kichwa (crossed my fingers the game does not end in a draw since I had tipped them to win),” the delighted Mukami, a mother of two sons disclosed.
Derby held on to beat Sheffield United 2-1 in the EFL Championship to confirm she had won the jackpot by getting 13 predictions correct and initially, she froze before recollecting herself to call her husband who works as an engineer with global tech firm Nokia in Seychelles via freeware and cross-platform messaging and Voice over IP service, WhatsApp, to share the news.
“At first, he insisted I was lying. I took a screenshot of the results and after sending them to him; he claimed I had forwarded them from another group. Then, he also became excited since he too had won a bonus after getting 11 games right.
“Later, the congratulatory message came and when I forwarded it to him, he finally believed and we broke into celebrations with my mother and sister in law who were with me in the house. I had become a millionaire but I still could not believe it,” the former midfielder who schooled at Karuri High School enthused.
Herbal stimulant
On his part, Kithia who buys Miraa, a popular chewable herbal stimulant that grows in and around Maua before repackaging and sending it to other towns around the country including Nairobi, Garissa and Mombasa, it will take some time for his huge fortune to sink in.
“I always hoped that one day, I would scoop the jackpot and after playing, I would pray hard for it to happen. After the message came through, I melted away from my friends and went home to sleep.
“I’m used to making money but not this much at a go. I’m a huge Chelsea fan and when I was watching us pull level in the very last seconds of the game, I had a feeling that my luck was beginning to turn.
“For now, I will not touch that money and I will take time to plan for it and use it to improve my life,” the businessman pledged.
The newest millionaire has no intention of splashing the cash on a holiday or indulging his wife and two daughters with any lavish gifts.
“I pay transporters to ferry my produce to my customers and perhaps in future, I will consider buying my own vehicle to ferry Miraa. My family is incredibly happy,” Kithia went on.
Having struck it rich for his love of the beautiful game, he intends to share part of his payout with Maili Tatu Stallions FC, his local team to give back to his community and develop football in the area.
“I believe we have talent that can play for Harambee Stars. We have many players who are capable and it’s only that they lack partners to help them get a bigger platform in the game.
Local football
“I do not follow local football much apart from the Stallions but I have been a Chelsea supporter since 2013,” the excited Kithia expressed.
Pressed to identify his favourite Chelsea players of past and present, his response was candid.
“For now, I cannot think of anything else apart from what I have just won. I thank God for this and other things will come later.”
Mukami was at first, almost embarrassed to profess her love for United, the record 20-time English champions who are languishing in 10th after a horror start by their own exalted standards.
If you had something to tell manager Jose Mourinho, what would you say?
“He has a top squad but sometimes, he benches better players than those on the field. He should balance the squad, not keeping some good players on the bench yet the standard of our football continues to go down,” the Food Sciences graduate from the Mombasa Polytechnic offered.
Locally, SportPesa Premier League champions, Gor Mahia FC curry flavour with the mid week jackpot winner and has tipped them to give Everton FC a good go when the Kenyan giants take on the Blues from Liverpool at Goodison Park on November 6.
“I’m a follower of Gor though I don’t attend their games. They can beat Everton but it will be tricky since they are playing away,” Mukami who gave up a career in Food Sciences since it was not her passion forecast.
Various products
Before her big break, she was doing part time jobs in promoting various products along the streets of the Kenyan capital or shopping outlets having worked at Fresha and Brookside dairies.
“I’ve always wanted to do something where I can use my brain and the work of my hands to make a living and I was quite happy to be a housewife and doing promotions whenever the chance arose. Now, I have the ability to invest in business and fulfil my dream of being self employed,” the winner who is mulling investing in the public transport service sector, popularly known as Matatu emphasised.
Together with fellow winners, Kithia and Mukami hailed the SportPesa platform for making a difference in the lives of their players and the community, highlighting their huge investment in local and international sports as an example.
“There is nothing fake about SportPesa. What you win is what you get,” Mukami who started her formative education at Dr. Njega Karume Primary School in Kiambu before joining Karura and Mombasa urged.
The amount shared on Monday of over KSh57m was the second highest mid week jackpot to be paid out by the company. The highest was in May 2017 when a real estate agent from Kayole, Nairobi won Ksh81,268,545.