If you think boda boda riders are illiterate, Vihiga has a surprise for you.
A boda boda rider in Luanda town has not only gotten a Bachelor's and a Master's degree but also become a luminary with greater ambitions in academia.
Julius Odhiambo, 36, is seeking to be a full-time university lecturer despite the challenges that have rocked his life since childhood.
The father of six says he has kept his eyes on the prize and refused to let his tribulations define him, not even his boda boda job that still helps to put food on the table.
Odhiambo was orphaned at an early age.
"I lost my mother to diabetes when I was nine back in 1994 and my dad to hypertension when I was 15 in 2000," he says.
Odhiambo hails from Ndegwe village in Gem, Siaya county. He said life was full of challenges after the death of both parents. His mother had been the breadwinner of the family.
He was left in his stepmother’s care. The stepmum had all along been a housewife but now had to grapple with providing for her children and stepchildren.
"My stepmum wasn't that stable to take care of the family," he says. "So most of the time, I was forced to venture into some small businesses."
The agony was worsened by the fact that many of their neighbours spent lavishly on their families even as his struggled to get by.
RISING ABOVE ODDS
Despite the challenges, Odhiambo scored 417 in the 2000 KCPE exam.
He was offered a chance at Ulumbi Secondary School in Siaya but could not make it because of financial constraints.
He was instead enrolled at Sirembe Secondary School in his village.
“I was registered by my uncle, Christopher Magaya from Uganda, who was a businessman on the Kenya-Uganda border," Odhiambo says.
His uncle met some of his school needs, but back home life was unbearable.
They could barely afford basic needs. School fee arrears were also accumulating. His dream of becoming a surgeon soon fizzled out.
“Losing the two parents within that range was a big blow. I knew my dreams of becoming a surgeon wouldn’t materialise," he said.
In 2003 while in Form 3, Odhiambo suspended his studies to look for a job to be able to support his family.
VENTURE INTO BUSINESS
The orphan soon started a small business. However, in third term, then-Sirembe headteacher Walter Onyango looked for him and readmitted him to school.
Onyango then secured a bursary of Sh25,000 for him, and Odhiambo finally sat his KCSE exam the following year, scoring C+, the minimum grade for university admission.
But his education was again cut short as there was no money to enable him to continue his academic journey.
He did menial jobs and was later hired to run a cramped shack cinema at Kodiaga in Gem in 2005.
The business did not do well. It soon collapsed.
“Most clients were schoolchildren, so the business was only good over the weekends and holidays,” he says.
The same year, he relocated to Maseno town and with the money he was paid by his employer, he started selling music CDs and movie DVDs, biscuits and crisps by the roadside near Maseno University main campus gate.
He targeted university students and hoped the business would be a going concern. He was wrong.
“The big problem we were encountering there was the long holidays,” he says.
“We had to have another plan as life had to go on. We had to eat, have clothes and so on,” Odhiambo said.
He then relocated to Luanda town and started a popcorn business. However, the income could not meet his family needs.
“In mid-June that year, I went for a loan at Faulu Bank to buy a TVS bike and I was among the first few people who owned bikes in Luanda town for boda boda,” the father of six said.
He was now earning at least Sh2,500 a day. This enabled him to service the loan and meet his family needs. He married in 2006.
He said the business by then was good with only a few people, but in 2007, the number of boda boda operators started increasing.
“The more the numbers, the lower the profits we get. Initially, hiring a bike by was Sh800,” he recalled.
“But since the numbers started increasing, the price had to reduce.”
The boda boda subsector quickly expanded in Luanda and soon, they were operating from Ebwiranyi Stage, Equity Bank, Nairobi Stage and Bigben Stage.
Odhiambo said armed thugs attacked him in 2008 while he was ferrying his client to Uranga. He suffered serious injuries.
“The injuries kept me off the road for eight months.”
The attack changed his perception of the job. It was risky and unsustainable, he thought. And in 2010, Odhiambo came up with a study plan.
We are trying to end the notion that boda boda riders are illiterate. We want to be respected as any other member of society
BACK TO CLASS AGAIN
In 2011, he enrolled for an undergraduate supply chain management programme in Maseno University. His says his boda boda colleagues raised Sh35,000 for his studies.”
Felix Osome, who was the chairman by then, said Odhiambo was totally humble to the ground.
“And his performance at school also convinced us to raise the money for his college as well,” Osome said.
After receiving the Sh35,000 from boda boda members, the Higher Education Loans Board gave him some money, and Faulu Bank as well.
“I graduated in 2015 and my dream of working in a procurement office was at my heart by then,” Odhiambo says.
“In Kenya, to get a job with a first degree is not easy,” he says.
He blames the high youth unemployment on corruption, saying some recruitment teams ask for kickbacks from job applicants to be considered for vacancies.
This has also resulted in rampant poverty, he said.
“Before you secure a job, those who want to give you that job demand kickbacks, so you end up losing the job because you had no money in the first place,” Odhiambo says.
He registered with the Kenya Institute of Supply Management, a professional body regulating the field, but still could not get a job.
Most employers said having a Master’s degree would be an added advantage.
This prompted him to register for further studies. He completed his Master’s programme in supply chain management in 2017 but still had some fees arrears.
The department hired him to teach diploma and certificate classes in the Kisumu campus to settle the arrears, but the Covid crisis ruined all this when learning institutions were closed.
He later raised enough cash, cleared the arrears and graduated.
Odhiambo has now set his eyes on becoming a full-time lecturer.
Meantime, he is still offering boda boda services. Vihiga county boda boda operators have a sacco and Odhiambo is serving on its election board as a member.
He said unemployment is a major challenge to the youth, and many promising and productive youths languish in corruption-instigated poverty.
Odhiambo plans to enrol for a PhD programme and hopes to raise Sh500,000. He is focused on beating the odds.
He hopes his academic achievements will help people respect boda boda operators, who are mainly considered illiterate.
“We are trying to end the notion that boda boda riders are illiterate. We want to be respected as any other member of society,” he says.
Edited by T Jalio