Reports that David Ngari, a renowned televangelist who operates a popular church in Thika could have fleeced innocent Kenyans over Sh1 billion through his real estate firm, Gakuyo, which also runs Ekeza Sacco, is enough to send shivers down the spines of anyone who may have invested in a plot of land somewhere or saved a fortune with a Sacco.
Truth be told, the question lingering in many people's minds currently is, if a self-declared Man of God can turn out to be this cunning and cannibalistically scandalous, what of those other cons that do not use the Word of God to attract unsuspecting low-income investors to their get-rich-quick con schemes?
Well, the Gakuyo scandal isn't a new thing in many people's ears as two years ago popular Kikuyu radio presenter Njogu Wa Njoroge had exposed Ngari as a blatant con who steals in the name of the Lord.
"Gakuyo you took money from house helps and people of low income. You never gave them land. You steal from the poor. You promised that by March 2017, all people who paid 20k and 10k should come for keys to their new homes. You said it on air. Now stop the sideshows. Where are the houses? You lie with a straight face. You call yourself a Bishop. You are a disgrace to Christianity?" Njogu had written on his widely followed Facebook page.
But as they say, a good learner is the one who borrows lessons from past mistakes to avoid the same in future.
The Ekeza scandal ought to be an eye-opener to prospective investors especially those from the low-income bracket who not once, not twice but severally, have fallen victims to other Ekeza-like scandalous baits.
For instance, these so-called 'mburoti maguta maguta' (oiled/prime plots) that are always being sold by several real estate firms via the Kikuyu media platform must be taken with a pinch of salt.
You will always hear of 'mburoti maguta maguta' that are available for sale say in Juja Farm a year after another. Before jumping into buying, why not ask yourself, doesn't this land get finished or it is a case of double or even triple selling? Or does land as a factor of production multiply in size such that after say one year an acre of land will become two?
As much as we could all be looking for economic emancipation, we shouldn't do so blindly. Instead, it is advisable to be wary that our quest for better lives has been infested by dangerous pests that could leave you as poor as you were born.
The 'mburoti maguta maguta' phrase was ironically coined by Njogu Wa Njoroge himself and has since been taken by other presenters across Kikuyu media who often use it while advertising plots for sale, real or otherwise.
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