At the southern end to the entrance to the Kakamega Municipal Market sits one Caleb Amateshe, a well-known locksmith in Kakamega town.

Armed with his tool box, the 41-year-old disabled locksmith – he lost a leg in a road accident six years ago – goes about his business effortlessly responding to his clients’ needs with aplomb.

Some clients hire him to fix new locks in new buildings or to replace old ones with new sets of locks. Amateshe has also expertise in all kinds of vehicle ignitions, a technique that has enabled him to carve out a niche in a very competitive construction industry.

He buys old locks and padlocks from scrap metal dealers, repairs and sells them at much cheaper prices compared to new ones bought from hardware shops.

“Some of these old locks are far much better than the new ones acquired from the shops in terms of safety,” says the father of three children from Kisa in Khwisero sub-county in Kakamega.

He did not complete high school education at Namasoli Secondary School where he dropped out in 1995, two years shy of sitting the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) due to lack of school fees. But this did not dampen his desire to fend for himself. He turned ‘work hard’ into his mantra that has seen him excel in business – especially the construction industry.

So, in 1997, he travelled to Nairobi in search of employment and his first stop was Kawangware, a shantytown west of the Kenyan capital’s central business district.

“I started life in Nairobi by selling roasted maize and kales (sukumawiki) to earn a living,” he says. “I would wake up very early in the morning to go to Toi Market near Kibera in Nairobi to buy the green maize and sukumawiki and take them to Kawangware where I owned a stall,” he adds.

He ran the business for a year before changing to “mitumba-shoes (second-hand shoes)” at the famous Gikomba Market in eastlands, Nairobi.

“Second-hand female shoes was a booming business at Gikomba but it did not last long. One of the reasons was getting stocks at the right time or even not getting any, which negatively affected my business for the 18 years I was in the business,” he says.

“I remember there were times when I could not get any stocks for my business to run and this did not help my business at all,” he admits.

Despite the challenges, Amateshe says another opportunity came his way when he diversified to a hardware shop on Outerring Road, in Donholm, in Nairobi’s Eastlands, in addition to the “mitumba shoes” business.

“I operated the hardware for five years but the business collapsed after the owner of the premises sold it after realising a road reserve.  I forced me to concentrate on the Gikomba business,” he recalls.

Everything changed in his life permanently when he was travelling home from Nairobi to the countryside six years ago.  The bus he had boarded was involved in an accident that left him with a broken leg.

The accident, however, didn’t dampen Amateshe’s spirits. After recovering, he continued picked up the pieces and continued to work hard. From the proceeds of his business, he has been able to build a four bedroom permanent house for his family of five that is connected to electricity.

“I also operate a posho mill at Kisa. I’m currently constructing a six bedroom house my father,” he adds.

“None of my children – two boys and a daughter – wants to be a locksmith like me. Instead they aspire to be doctors or something better if all goes on well,” he says.

“From the work of my hands, I’ve been able to pay school fees for my three sisters and my younger brother Geoffrey Amwila who scored a C+ last year at Shivinga Secondary School and is waiting to join university,” he adds.

Amateshe is also paying fees for his sister Phyllis Amunza who is currently training to be a nurse at the Kenya Medical Training College. His other two sisters are yet to join college.

Amateshe looks forward to a bright future. He plans to buy a plot that is near a highway and start a hardware shop but only if he can get about Ksh2 million ($15,456) start-up capital to add on to he has already saved.

“I have experience in the hardware business. I have mentored many friends into the business and many are rich. All you have to do is to buy or order your stocks from “Mhindi mmoja” (buy from a particular Indian) who will supply you with goods on credit. But you must be honest and pay him back on a weekly basis,” he said.

He is also banking his hopes on the planned expansion of the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) from Naivasha to Malaba on the Kenya-Uganda border.

“The SGR is earmarked to pass through our ancestral land at his Bushibungwa village, Ikomero Sub-location in East Kisa in Khwisero Constituency,” he adds.

He says already, the government has asked the affected land owners to procure land title deeds so that they can be compensated adequately once the reconstruction of the line commences.

“My father already has his land title deed,” he adds. Amateshe plans to use some of the compensation money to finish some of his projects.

• A Tell / KNA report / By Albert Muteshi

Caleb Amateshe offers services to his customers outside the entrance to the Kakamega Municipal Market. The 41-year-old locksmith, despite being disabled following a road accident, never lost his focus to achieving his dream. Credit: Albert Muteshi, KNA.