By Faith Anene, Kakamega
Safaricom has today announced the final five winners of the Shine Kenya Shinda Mamilii Kama Bingwa promotion, a campaign launched to celebrate customers with daily and weekly cash prizes, including data bundles.
The five weekly winners awarded today are Geoffrey Kibet from Nairobi, Boaz Mwaniki from Kitui, Margaret Wamathai from Mai Mahiu, Synaida Boyani Nyamongo from Serem, Vihiga County, and Mary Kanini Mutisya from Athi River.
Each winner received Ksh1 million, along with an additional Ksh250,000 to support a community project of their choice.
In addition to the monetary awards, the campaign has also awarded various customers across the country with daily prizes, including airtime to 200,000 customers, data bundles to 200,000 customers, SMS bundles to more than 300,000 customers and Digital Content to more than 1.2million customers.
Each winner received Ksh1 million, along with an additional Ksh250, 000 to support a community project of their choice, courtesy of the Safaricom Foundation. Additionally, daily prizes, including Data Bundles, Minutes, Digital Content and SMS, have been awarded to over 2M customers across the country since launch.
During the award ceremony in Sabatia, Butere, in Kakamega County, Synaida Boyani Nyamongo, a mother of three, expressed her joy at being one of the lucky winners.
“I am still in shock after receiving a call from Safaricom that I had won Ksh1 million through Shinda Mamilii Kama Bingwa. I am incredibly grateful, as this is a huge blessing from God. I never imagined I would win in any promotion. I run a small shop here in Serem, and I plan to use this money to add stock and grow my business. I also intend to use some of the funds to complete my mother’s house, which had stalled due to lack of funds,” said the 28-year-old.
Synaida also announced her intention to launch a project to provide food to underprivileged school-children in her community using the Ksh250, 000 from the Safaricom Foundation.
“We have many school-going kids in this area who lack food. I want to start a feeding programme to support them using the funds from the Safaricom Foundation,” she said.
Margaret Wamathai, who is currently unemployed, was overjoyed upon receiving her cheque. She plans to use the money to reopen her motorcycle spare parts shop, which closed two years ago due to financial difficulties. “Life has been tough, especially being jobless in the current economy. But now, I am confident things will change as we plan to revive our business and fully support our family. I also want to use some of the money to build a house,” she said.
Margaret further stated that she would use the community project funds to purchase blankets and mattresses for a children’s home in Mai Mahiu.
Boaz Mwaniki was overwhelmed with joy after being announced as a winner from the Mt. Kenya region.
The 19-year-old mason and last-born in a family of three said, “I see my life changing completely from today. I finished high school two years ago, and since then, I have been working as a mason to support my mother and siblings. I will use this money to go back to school to pursue a course in journalism and mass communication and support my sister with college fees.”
Like Margaret, Boaz also plans to use the KES 250,000 from the Safaricom Foundation to support a children’s home in the Migwani sub-location, improving their living standards.
Meanwhile, 19-year-old Mary Kanini Mutisya, a first-year hospitality student who had deferred her course due to lack of school fees, says she can now return to school to complete her studies for a brighter future and support her single mother.
“As a young person, it feels amazing to win such an amount. I never imagined winning a million at this age. I am deeply grateful to Safaricom. My dreams seemed shattered after I deferred my studies due to a lack of school fees. I will immediately pay my school fees and ensure I complete my three-year hospitality course at Kenya Coast National Polytechnic.”
Mary who hails from Athi River, also plans to use the community project funds from the Safaricom Foundation to support a local children’s home. “I know many kids suffering out there, some even on the streets with nothing to eat. I want to use the Ksh 250,000 from Safaricom Foundation to support Pillars of Hope Children’s Home in my area,” she said.
Geoffrey Kibet, who is heavily involved in agricultural farming, was thrilled after receiving KES 1 million. The father of one plans to expand his farming project and enrol in a degree programme to pursue political science and public administration.
“I want to thank Safaricom for this promtion. I am overjoyed, and I plan to use the money to expand my farming project, support my wife’s clothing business, and further my studies. For the community project, I want to help protect the Cheboingong Water Spring by fencing it and assisting with water piping for the community back in the village,” he said.
Today’s awards mark the final weekly winners’ announcement ahead of the grand draw. Since the campaign’s launch in May, a total of 30 weekly millionaires have been crowned.
The Shine Kenya Shinda Mamilii campaign was launched to celebrate Safaricom customers, rewarding individuals while uplifting communities through various charitable contributions. The eight-week campaign will conclude with the announcement of the grand prize winner, who will walk away with KES 5 million plus an additional Ksh1M to support a community project.
