He surprised many when he withstood the Jubilee party wave in Central Kenya to be elected Thika Town MP during August 8 General Election as an independent candidate.
Patrick Wainaina alias 'WaJungle' trounced the Jubilee candidate and then Thika MP Alice Ng'ang'a to become the constituency's second MP.
The constituency was created ahead of 2013 General elections when the then larger Juja constituency was split into three to form Thika town, Juja and Ruiru constituencies.
Wainaina's election as Thika MP, however, was just one of the many insurmountable odds he has had to overcome over years to be the self-made billionaire, entrepreneur, politician and mentor he is today.
This is a story of nothing to something, zero to a hero or if you like it, grass to grace. WaJungle, the proprietor of Jungle Nuts Company, has achieved it all through sheer hard work to become a successful entrepreneur through what he terms as 'blind faith, hard work and optimism'.
“My history starts from the Kenya Nuts Company where I worked as an engineer in 1996. I am a trained mechanical engineer. My boss was a Japanese who was very strict and he taught me a great deal on what the future expects from me,’’ Wainaina told Business Daily during an interview in 2016 after he was announced overall winner of Top-100 mid-sized companies survey organized by Nation Media and KPMG.
Wainaina headed to the US after resigning from Kenya Nuts to study marketing, with high expectations that the course would unlock his success.
This was, however, to prove a distant dream as he was soon to realize. At one time he had to work at the homes of the elderly to make ends meet afterlife became unbearable.
“I had to cut down my spending and save something to take back home and this translated to Sh300,000. Before leaving for the US, I had studied the macadamia market and seen its potential and had made contacts with a number of businessmen involved in the trade,’’ he added.
Upon arrival in Kenya, WaJungle rented a small room and bought second-hand machinery and used the remaining amount to pay for factory rent for six months. He was left with nothing and his dream of owning a business was plunged into darkness.
The businessman-cum-politician had no capital to finance his dream and banks would hear none of him without presenting a guarantor. Guarantors were, however, a no-show as nobody wanted to take the liability in case he failed to repay.
He had no option left than to shut down his new business and seek employment.Wainaina would later secure a job with Safaricom where he saved enough for five years to be able to re-ignite his dream.
He also managed to secure a loan from Faulu Kenya which he used to supplement his savings.
Today Wainaina is a billionaire who has created over 300 jobs and whose firm processes macadamia nuts, cashew nuts, and peanuts. The company exports its products to the US, China, and the UK.
He advises budding entrepreneurs to start small in order to learn the ropes of successful businesses and also work hard to make it bigger.
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