The story of John Ochieng, a carpenter who was honoured by President William Ruto at the Mashujaa Day celebrations for acquiring a three-bedroom house, is an inspiration to casual workers who dream of owning a decent home.
While speaking to Citizen TV on Friday, November 26, Ochieng narrated his two-year journey, which saw him acquire a unit in one of the affordable housing projects where he was employed as a carpenter.
He stated that the dream to own one of the units he was working on started soon after embarking on the Rongai project.
Ochieng reached an agreement with one of his employer's sons, which would see a portion of his wages deducted and channelled towards the fund to secure his two-bedroom house.
15 per cent of his weekly wages was deducted for two years in a row. By the time the project was complete, Ochieng had raised Ksh3.2 million, earning him a dream house for himself and his family.
However, it was never a walk in the park for Ochieng as he stated that he had to endure the pinch of a reduced budget in the duration.
He attributed his breakthrough to his employer, whom he noted was instrumental in pushing him to pursue the dream of acquiring a home.
“When we started this project, one of our director’s sons approached me and introduced the proposal for me to own one of the units eventually,” Ochieng stated.
“In a week they would do a valuation of the work done, so they would take15 per cent. In total, the money accumulated in the plan amounted to Ksh3.2 million."
The employer's son stated that he was determined to see one of his devoted employees own a house after a long period of working together.
“We gave him a contract to do the woodwork and we encouraged that part of his payment will be used to help him own a house here,” the employer stated.
About the recognition by President Ruto in a national event, Ochieng noted that he was humbled to have courted the attention of the President.
