When the Swahili wisemen said ‘haba na haba hujaza kibaba’, they had Ezekiel Ng’ang’a, the founder of Homes Heart Properties in mind.
The breadwinner and firstborn in a family of five, Ezekiel, born into poverty back in Nakuru learned how to manage money from a young age, the knowledge earned which turned cards of misfortunes life had dealt him into a fortune that he now enjoys.
“I left Nakuru for Nairobi in 2007 to seek greener pastures and most important, what I wanted so much was to own a piece of land here in Nairobi. A home where my heart is. Yaani, my place, kwangu. This drove me to save every little money I earned,” Ezekiel said while a waiter took our orders
We are a group of six in a lavish restaurant along Mombasa Road for the interview. Myself, Moses Mali, a fellow journalist, Ezekiel’s business partner Polly Kibe, and two other members of his team.
The conversation is smooth and from time to time, bits of laughter are let out on our table and you can tell that his team is a close-knit family.
The first job Ezekiel landed was that of a tout in Matatu’s plying the Nairobi CBD to Kitengela route. After several months, he got another job as a waiter at a restaurant before he quit and became a bodaboda operator.
“That was 2008,” he says. “The economy was good, a friend of mine employed me as a nduthi guy. I woke up at 3 AM daily and retired for the day at 11 PM. From the day’s earnings, I paid him Ksh300 and saved what I earned. That is the money I bought my first parcel of land with, “Ezekiel, while smiling and sipping from a glass of juice said before adding…
“I was conned. In the same way, those who bought land, built their homes, and settled in Mavoko were conned and their houses demolished. Collins, I was conned thrice. And these happened between 2007 and 2008. I lost over Ksh400,000 thousand.
“That is why when I sell land and provide homes for people today, I place my heart into it. I make sure my clients know that the business agreements we do are legitimate. We do due diligence. From making sure that the land is legally registered in government records to getting title deeds.”
We laugh. Ezekiel quotes a scripture verse from the book of Jeremiah., “for I knew you before you were born…” What was ordered for lunch is brought before us. His order is plantain. Mine is chicken and some stew.
His business partner is served fish fingers, veggies and a glass of Pina colada to wash it all down. Ezekiel takes a piece of a fish finger from Polly’s plate. Polly laughs and says she’ll switch her sitting position if a piece from her plate is eaten.
We eat. Ezekiel tells me he took a break from buying land because once beaten, he was twice shy. He soldiered on as a nduthi operator, saved his earnings
“I stopped buying land. I’d lost my savings so I concentrated on rebuilding my finances. I did a number of jobs between 2008 and 2010 while working as a bodaboda operator in Kitengela. Eventually, I managed to buy my own motorcycle,” Ezekiel, who speaks as fast as he thinks tells me. We are having lunch. I’m torn between taking mental notes as I eat, so I ask him to backtrack.
“The guy who had given me his bike, yaani my employer, my boss, lost his job and he took it back. He told me it is easy to get another bike. After some time, I found another employer and I made a resolution to actually own my motorcycle. To be my own boss. That was 2010.”
I mentally note down these details as I enjoy my chicken stew. We proceeded with the interview.
Earning a living day and night, saving, what he earned from his second employer while fending for his family back in Kuresoi, Nakuru, Ezekiel went to a bank and through asset finance, he was informed that once his bank account balance read Ksh 30,000, he could be loaned Ksh30,000 and with a total of Ksh60,000 he purchased a motorbike from his first employer.
At this point, we are so deep in our conversation that my fellow journalist and Ezekiel’s team are asking why the interview is taking too much time to conclude. A joke is thrown here, and there, we laugh and we proceed with the story, his story.
Well, Ezekiler approached his former boss, who was selling his motorbike for Ksh55,000.
He smiles and tells me what most of us have been told by relatives, friends and people we come across. That we can’t do it. That it’s not possible.
“Unajua aliniambia nini? Ati nitatoa wapi hiyo pesa ya kununua pikipiki yake. I did not give up. Vile Jeremiah said that the Lord knew me even before I was born and he has a plan for me. For all of us. I knew I could do it. After working for a month, I had saved more than the thirty thousand required by the bank. I got a loan and bought the motorcycle. Na hapo ndio nilianza kuona I can be a land owner. Kama I can buy a motorbike, why can I not buy a piece of land?”
Knowing that the little he saves has pushed him out of penury, Ezekiel approached two of his friends, and together, they each raise some money and purchase a piece of land.
“Hard work pays!” He tells me as the waiter clears our table. “I woke up at 3 AM daily to earn a living as a nduthi operator. The economy was good. My friends and I contributed Ksh100,000 each and we bought 2 acres of land in Kitengela, Finally, I was no longer a squatter. I owned my own piece of land,” we smile. We drink our glasses of juice.
His finances were in order. He graduated as a motorcycle owner, bought a TukTuk after two years, got married and developed a plan to acquire more land while working as a driver of a Public Service Vehicle (PSV) plying Kitengela town to Nairobi CBD routes in 2014.
“I approached friends and colleagues and together we formed a chama of 50 people. We were contributing Ksh50 daily. But that did not work for long. 20 members quit and asked to be given their money. We raised our contribution amount to Ksh100 daily until 20 other members left.”
To keep the group’s dream of owning parcels of land alive, Ezekiel and the other 9 members agreed to churn out ksh5,000 weekly which eventually enabled them to buy 2 acres of land in Kitengela. The year was 2015.
“We subdivided the land into plots and sold them. That’s the moment I left my work as a matatu driver and became an insurance broker, land sales agent and a shylock in Kitengela.”
“And how did you come up with Homes Heart Properties?” I ask him. He throws a glance to Polly who is sitting beside him.
“While buying and selling land, I met Polly sometime in 2019. I sold her a piece of land, we finalized the agreement, she had her title deed and we parted ways until a year later in 2020 when COVID-19 struck,” Ezekiel told me.
During the pandemic, Polly lost her job as a banker and that’s when she teamed up with Ezekiel together, they came up with Homes Heart Properties.
As their real estate business grew, Ezekiel whose passion for business and providing solutions is constant, founded a construction company after a client whom he sold land didn’t know how to build himself a home.
“And just like that, Homes Heart Construction Company was born. In fact, next month, on Saturday, December 2 we will be handing over a home to one of our clients,” he adds.
Polly who has been keenly following our interview/conversation adds: you should be there Collins. You should come over and witness the handing over of the house so that you also become a client.”
In partnership with Polly, Ezekiel has sold over 20 parcels of land in Kitengela and witnessing their business grow into a team of 15 employees, the two directors of Homes Heart Properties came up with Homes Heart Foundation as a way to appreciate their fortune by ‘giving back to society’.
“Through Homes Heart Foundation, we’ve paid school fees for over 30 needy children. We also visit children’s homes and share what we can provide with them,” Polly told me as we concluded the interview.
