Samwel Ngetich: From a pit latrine digger to multimillionaire
Samwel Kipterer Ngetich, a business titan and politician from Kericho
The death of Mzee Samwel Kipterer Ngetich closed the last chapter of the life of a man who rose from a humble background and became a business magnate with vast interests in real estate, transport, tea, sugar, hospitality, mining, warehousing and retail.
Despite dropping out of class three – at Keongo Primary School, where he enrolled in 1956 – he rose to become a councillor, a member of the county assembly for Kapkugerwet civic ward and Kericho deputy mayor.
A staunch Catholic, the politician-businessman died aged 73 while undergoing treatment for a liver ailment at MP Shah hospital in Nairobi, weeks after returning from a hospital in India, his family said.
He was born in Chepsetyon village, Kericho County, in 1949 according to family members.
Mzee Ngetich, popularly known as Chepsetyon (after his village), had vast interests in tea processing and farming, and ran a chain of supermarkets across Kericho, Bomet, Narok, Kisumu, Nandi and Nakuru counties, businesses that he started from scratch and built them to formidable enterprises.
Some of the companies that he owned are Mbogo Valley, the Sangalo Tet and Kuresoi tea factories, Kipchimatt supermarkets, SABS Mining and Construction company, ABSS Warehouses Limited and West Valley Sugar company – running under the Kipchimchim group of companies.
But many did not know that this successful man used to dig pit latrines and weed maize and tea plantations to provide for his siblings. On market days, he was known as a chicken broker. He later opened a hotel, a bar and a shop, and went into the matatu and transport business.
The former councillor and first member of the Kericho County Assembly for Kapkugerwet ward in Ainamoi constituency, was a respected Kipsigis community elder and was regarded as a “walking library” of Kericho town.
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He is remembered by family and friends as a humble man who went out of his way to prop up others and paid attention to detail in whatever he chose to do.
He educated more than 5,000 needy students with his resources through secondary, middle level colleges and universities.
He was known for his burly figure, broad smile, trademark flowered and untucked shirts, Kaunda suits and grey afro hairstyle.
In the Kericho County Assembly, he always insisted that, the at the time Speaker, Mr Kiptergech Mutai, now the outgoing Bureti MP, interpreted to him what had been agreed by members whenever he felt lost, and the significance of the matter at hand.
“He was a very knowledgeable old man, who took very seriously the trust bestowed on him by voters as their leader. He truly wanted to change the lives of the people for the better and used his personal resources and time to achieve that,” Mr Mutai said.
Mr Jackson Kikwai, a former MCA who served with Mzee Ngetich in the assembly, told the Nation that the latter always wanted to learn and took time to ask questions on issues he did not understand well.
“Despite his academic limitations, Mzee Ngetich was a very informed man and was ahead of those of us who were better educated, on many local and international matters,” Mr Kikwai said.
“I remember a case where we went to Namibia and Israel on an agricultural trip and he amazed us with his grasp of the technology deployed in agriculture.”
He was an MCA between 2013 and 2017, serving as chairman of the Labour Committee.
Before MCAs set out for their trip to Namibia, he warned them that their bid to market tea in that country would not bear fruit as the demand for the produce was low compared with other regions. It was a detail that Mr Kikwai said other ward reps and county officials did not have and Mzee Ngetich was later proved right.
“He once told me that he started seven different business enterprises that collapsed, before he found his midas touch,” Mr Kikwai.
“He once had nine matatus on the road, but he lost all of them. He opened a hotel, but was driven out of business, opened a shop that failed, and later went into the wholesale business before upgrading it to a supermarket.”
Former Kericho mayor Joel Siele told the Nation that Mzee Ngetich never gave up, dusting himself up and rising after every fall.
“Some of his major pillars are his children, who rallied behind him in his business enterprises and took them to the next level,” Mr Siele said.
“His rise in business is attributed to his children, who manage the various enterprises. It is one thing that we need to learn from in running a family business.”
His breakthrough is said to have been in the tea sector, where he started purchasing green leaves from farmers and selling them to multinational companies in the early 1990s, inspiring him to go into tea processing and export.
He caused prolonged laughter at the funeral service for retired Lt-Gen John Koech at the Kericho Golf Club on December 8, 2020 when he said he often told the military man that he should ensure the businessman was given a decent send-off when death eventually knocked on his door.
“General Koech was my great friend. Because I was older than him, I remember repeatedly asking him that he should ensure that I get a decent burial when I die. His daughter is a witness …,” he said.
“Unfortunately, he has departed ahead of me and the responsibility of sending him off has fallen on my shoulders,” Mzee Ngetich said to laughter among mourners.
Deputy President William Ruto was among those who could not hold back their laughter at the mass as Mzee Ngetich gave his humorous tribute.
“He was truly an amazing soul who I can honestly say was a best friend to his family. He made sure we were supported in whatever we did and that we never felt anything other than loved. He exemplified the reality of daring to dream,” said Mr Ben Soi, one of his sons.
He added: “Despite his minimal education background, he travelled the world from China, Dubai, India, United Kingdom, Israel, and not even the language barrier could hold him back.”
Ms Sharon Chepkoech, one of his daughters, said: “My dad had a way of bringing laughter and smiles to everyone. He would woo every crowd and even on a dull day, he knew how to bring laughter and smiles to everyone.”
Mr Alfred Soi, another of his sons, said: “He was a man of principle and courage. He encouraged everyone to work hard and succeed in life.”
With curtains closed on his life, Mzee Ngetich provides a classic case of bringing down barriers in the business sector and never allowing one’s education background to be an impediment on the road to success.
