I Attended a Political Rally, It Led to a Family Business Generating Ksh600K a Year 

For years, a piece of my father's land in Gem, Siaya County sat idle.

The parcel, located next to our family compound, was occasionally used for farming, but it generated very little income. Like many families in rural Kenya, we simply viewed it as land that would always be there.

In February 2013, everything changed.

I attended a political rally in our town where local leaders were discussing plans to establish a constituent college of a public university in the area. The promise attracted a lot of excitement. Politicians spoke about jobs, businesses, and economic opportunities that would come with the institution.

As I listened, one thought crossed my mind. If the university came, students would need somewhere to live.

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At the time, I was still searching for stable employment. A few months later, however, I secured a job with a children's organisation in Nairobi.

While settling into my new role, I continued following news about the proposed university campus.

Every few weeks, I would call home and ask for updates.

The responses were usually the same.

"They are still discussing it."

"The land has already been identified."

"People are saying construction will begin soon."

For a while, it sounded like one of those politicians’ promises that never materialise.

Still, I kept saving.

Fortunately, I had started saving in 2010, long before I heard about the university plans. By December 2015, I had accumulated about Ksh1.6 million.

That Christmas, I travelled home and decided to see the proposed university site for myself.

For the first time, I saw actual progress.

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Construction had begun. Buildings were coming up, and it was clear that something significant was happening.

I left convinced that the project would be completed.

As 2017 approached, I felt the political pressure to deliver the campus before voters returned to the ballot would increase the chances of success.

When I discussed the idea with my father, he surprised me. Instead of discouraging the investment, he offered to support it.

He agreed to contribute Ksh1.6 million from his retirement savings if we built student hostels on the idle family land. Together, we had Ksh3.2 million.

It was a huge commitment. Neither of us had ever undertaken a project of that size before.

Construction started in 2016. The goal was simple: build five self-contained studio units that could accommodate students once the university opened.

Every stage felt risky. There was always the possibility that the university project would stall or be abandoned.

But we pushed ahead. By February 2017, the hostel project was complete.

Two months later, our gamble paid off. The university campus officially opened in April 2017, just months before the General Election.

The real surprise came when the first students arrived in September.

We quickly discovered that very few investors had prepared accommodation for them. Demand was overwhelming.

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All five units were occupied almost immediately. Because of the shortage of housing, most students were willing to share rooms.

We installed double-decker beds, allowing each unit to accommodate two students.

Instead of five tenants, we now had ten. We charged each student Ksh15,000 per semester. With ten students, the hostels generated Ksh150,000 every semester.

Since the university operated on a three-semester calendar, annual income reached about Ksh450,000.

At first, most of the money went toward recovering our investment and maintaining the property.

But every year, occupancy remained strong. As the university grew, so did demand for accommodation.

What started as an idea inspired by a political rally gradually became one of the best financial decisions our family ever made.

In 2022, due to the increasing number of students, we increased the rent to Ksh20,000 per student for the semester, earning us an annual income of Ksh600,000 for the year. By mid-2024, we had fully recovered the Ksh3.2 million invested in the project.

Today, the hostels continue generating income, meaning the earnings are now largely profit.

Looking back, the most important lesson wasn't about construction or real estate.

It was about recognising opportunity before everyone else did.