Behind every successful...well, behind the success of the famous Kambi Kuku annual auction in Uasin Gishu, is a young ambitious woman, Gertrude Chemutai Kurgat.
In a media interview, Chemutai revealed that the Kambi Kuku auction dated back to the year 1978, when locals sold chicken to truck drivers that plied their trade along the Eldoret-Uganda highway.
Growing up in the locality, Chemutai witnessed locals selling a handful of chicken to travellers and drivers along the route. It is was from there that she developed the idea to organise an annual auction that would properly monetise chicken farming in the area.
"Growing up I watched people sell one or two chicks, I thought we could grow it into a bigger market, that's why I came up with the idea to convert the group of market traders into a cooperative and organise an annual auction where they could sell chicken at a higher price than they normally sell," Chemutai stated.
"This way they can get capital for their businesses and enable us move towards value addition in the near future," she added.
She said the action had been largely successful since its launch with numerous benefits for the residents.
"Last year we sold 5000 chicken at Ksh6 million, this year we intend to sell 13,000 chicken."
Chemutai expressed her ambition to grow the trade into a much larger and diverse business.
"We look forward to becoming the largest supplier of chicken in the region. We not only want to deal in live chicken, if someone would want one slaughtered, then we have it," Chemutai revealed.
"In the near future, we want to not only sell chicken during auctions but at any time. We want to be able to sell to hotels, schools, institutions. We are looking to diversify from maize farming," she added.
Chemutai was in the public eye in 2017 when she vied for the Turbo Constituency Parliamentary seat at the age of 25.
Though she didn't secure the seat, many lauded her for the courage and her commitment towards society.
