Imagine being uprooted and having to start afresh as a refugee in a new country when you already had a career and you were married with a two-year-old child.
Now imagine coming from the cool and rainy Democratic Republic of Congo and the place you find yourself is the hot and dusty Kakuma Refugee camp in Turkana County where temperatures daily get to above 40 degrees. And hope is in short supply.
That was the fate of Byenda “Congolee” Arsene, a political scientist from Goma who, in 12 years, has turned his life around to become a highly successful M-PESA agent.
Widely known as Congolee, as a tribute to his Congolese roots, Byenda is a fairly successful man of the people in the South Sudanese quarter of Hong Kong in Kakuma 1.
“I am very popular in Hong Kong. People here have seen me rise from the ground up. When I was struggling. When I used to just wear one vest. Now I dress well. You have not even seen me well-dressed. If you saw me dressed up, you would be stunned. Now I am doing well. I am thankful. My children are in private school. With my children okay I feel great. I feel like a man again,” a proud Congolee says.
Kakuma Refugee Camp is divided by nationality with South Sudanese, Somalis, Ethiopians, Burundis, Congolese and all other nationalities each living predominantly in their quarter.
Congolee went against the norm opting to live in the Hong Kong area of Kakuma 1, which is home to the South Sudanese community. Compared to others, the South Sudanese in Kakuma receive a significant amount of money from relatives who have transitioned to the diaspora.
This was the business opportunity Congolee spotted, and his foresight has paid off.
“Transactions on my till range from KES 200,000, KES 300,000. It is customers who trust me to do the transactions. It is through God’s grace that I am able to do this work successfully,” he said.
Kakuma Refugee Camp is divided into four areas: Kakuma 1, 2, 3 and 4 whilst the Kalobeyei Integrated Settlement comprises of 3 villages: Village 1, 2 and 3. Located half an hour from the entry to the camp is Kakuma Town.
Established in 1992, the refugee camp has grown into mabati townships that could pass for Kibera or Huruma in Nairobi. For the refugees, convenient access to Safaricom services is critical and a trusted M-PESA agent in their vicinity is priceless.
“Congolee is a very straightforward M-PESA agent. He helps us reduce the footfall in our town shops. The refugees do not have to travel to Kakuma town to come for M-PESA transactions. What makes him great is integration with the community. Many refugees trust him and he’s also an elder there in the village,” explains Petro Lokatur, a Safaricom Customer Experience Executive in Kakuma Town.
