Now that he is no longer with us, I will do a post about him. Sio kumsengenya, ah ah, not at all…its only that he is one of the few people whose survival tactics here in Nairobi are one of a kind.

Am talking about one of the craziest guys I’ve ever met, lets call him Ken*.This guy happened to be my colleague and a friend (he still is) where I work for the past like one year or so.

The first time we met, he came across as a very respectable young man, in fact we got along well until I learnt who he really was. The guy was and is still a con, and a professional one at that. Despite knowing who he really was he swindled me, yaani alinigonga. How I fell to his trap to date still puzzles me…. And the way am so sure of myself. After it dawned on me that I had fell victim to him, i just kept it to myself since i had made fun of my colleagues who had been there before me!

He got along with everyone, I bet it must have been his gift of gab which he utilized very well. He could talk for hours on end and his stories would never bore you, but at the end, you would end up parting with something- even if it were a hundred bob. I have never known to date how he knew what amuses someone because his stories concentrated around your areas of interest. I am yet to meet someone who knows so much from international politics, investments, to anything – you name it. Did I say he knew the holy book though he never attended any church? Mid conversation, he would chomoa a verse and a conc one at that (you know those ones that you have never heard) to hammer his point home.

Then the guy had papers, I mean his CV was stunning! I am sure he will not tarmac for long despite the recession that everyone keeps talking about. My guy has a problem though, – Debts. He has a loan with every other banks and every shylock in town knows him. Every end month our reception would be swarmed by disgruntled people especially shylocks who apparently expected to get paid by my good friend and how he convinced them that things had not worked out as expected baffles me.

The guy had 5 cheque books for the same account….and most his time was spent calling his bank to stop a cheque and at the same time issuing another one to someone else….. His debts tempted him in the company’s kitty and that how he was fired. Upon his forced retirement, his brother who happens to be someone senior in the military had offered to clear his debt until he saw the amount! I have met crazy people but this one…. He is one of a kind, and Ken* I wish you all the best.