When a member of a group of old friends from school lost his wife, back in 1993, they decided to come together to support him with funeral arrangements.
After the burial, they agreed to be meeting frequently, motivated by a desire to provide support and companionship during a difficult time, potentially creating a community where others experiencing similar grief could find understanding and solace.
This is the story of Robert Oyando and his four friends who founded the Common Friends Club (CFC) with primary objective of bringing together indigenous people of Western Kenya and to tackle common problems using an entrepreneurial approach.
Oyando, 64, is the founding chairman of CFC which was established in the year 2000 and registered as a society in July 2002.Over time, the Club has grown and established the Mulembe Fund and the Mulembe Benevolent Fund and Mulembe Benevolent Fund.
At present, CFC’s investments are conservatively valued at over Sh120 million.
These investments have been made primarily in real estate, shares of companies listed on the stock exchange and the money market.
During an interview with the Star, Oyando and another founding member, Edward Opiayo, reminisce their youthful days back in the 1970s.
“We were in school then and we had an association called The Anyore Technicians Association which we referred as TATA, bringing together nine technical schools out of 11 technical institutions that were in the country at the time,” Oyando recalls.
He left the then Kisumu Technical School in 1979 to join the job market as an engineer and as the Secretary General of the association, he ensured he knew the whereabouts of other TATA members.
“In 1992 I was working in Nairobi and that is when we got news of the loss of one of our member’s wife. We went there and assisted him with the burial. When we returned to Nairobi, we decided to sit down at Good Times (current Tents Lounge), where we had some meat,” he recalls.
“It was during the meeting that we decided we should not only be meeting during a funeral or hardships, but rather we should start meeting more frequently. One of our friends then invited us to his house at Umoja One and that is where the idea of forming a club was mooted,” Oyando narrates.
The group started contributing Sh200 per month. After one year or so, around 1995, the monthly contribution was increased to Sh1,000 as membership grew.
“We started getting other people who brought in different ideas and this changed a lot of things. I remember one time a member’s daughter was going abroad and we contributed Sh2,800 each and sent her off as a group. That is when things changed and we decided to go big with an investment mind,” Oyando remembers.
This was when Common Friends Club was formed.
“We started thinking about investments, improving our welfare but more importantly adding value to our community. We also thought at some point we will get old so we needed to invest,” Oyando said during our interview, noting that most members at the time were between 30 and 40 years.
By the year 2000, the club which was made up of only men had 15 members. Within a few years, the monthly contribution went up to Sh10,000 per month and members started accessing loans from the savings, with an annual dividend for each member at a rate of nine per cent.
The club’s benevolent fund on the other hand was giving Sh250,000 when a member dies, Sh100,000 if a member lost a child and Sh80,000 for the loss of a parent.
Mulembe Fund’s membership includes senior government officials and experts in the different professions and sectors of the economy.
“The fund has helped strengthen families that were shaky. It has created a very strong foundation for families as we continue pooling resources together to solve issues affecting members and invest,” the Common Friends Club Finance, investment and strategy advisor, Edward Opiayo, said.
Initially, CFC membership was restricted to men. From 2014, membership was opened to ladies. This has seen it’s membership grow to more than 150 members from 15 members within a period of less than 10 years.
In its Strategic Plan 2023-2027 CFC is targeting to recruit leaders and professionals from the Western Kenya community.
The Club is building apartments in Kakamega comprising 30 units. This project is expected to cost about Sh75 million when completed.
“We want to bring onboard more members which means more investment,” said Oyando, “We are eying high-quality investments that will change the financial prospects of the Western Kenya region. We want to have this footprint in Busia, Bungoma and Kitale, if possible we go into other areas of the western region apart from urban areas.”
The club is seeking to put up high-value real estate investments including hotel facilities which will create jobs and grow other economic activities in the region.
With an already working business where members can borrow money, CFC is keen to establish a community owned micro-finance bank by the year 2030 under what it refers to as the “Big 3 Agenda”, which it believes will see them become the largest single investor in Western Kenya.
The Big 3 also encompasses its real estate business, the benevolent fund and micro-insurance business.
“We plan to grow our investments portfolio to more than Sh250 million by December 2025. We will identify 1,000 persons whom we shall invite to invest Sh1million. In this endeavour, we intend to partner with the county governments, governors, senators, members of Parliament, eminent professionals and leaders from Western Kenya. We also intend to partner with corporates, both large and small, as well as with local and international organisations,” noted Oyando.
Asked about the secret of building a strong society and investment vehicle, Oyando insists on trust and transparency.
“What we can tell the young generation is they should start thinking about the future and their children’s future. They must invest as little as they can for the future,” he said.
