Eunice Wanjiru prepares chapati at her ‘Mama 10 Hotel’ in Gilgil Town, Nakuru County, on July 8, 2025.
Eunice Wanjiru Ngigi, better known as Mama Chapo by those she interacts with, was displaced during the 2007–2008 post-election clashes in Eldoret, in the Rift Valley.
She and her five children were among those transported to Gilgil, a town in Nakuru County, to start a new life as an Internally Displaced Person (IDP).
Although she began rebuilding her life with just Sh50, Eunice is now the proprietor of Mama Chapos, a popular eatery in Gilgil.
When the Nation Lifestyle team paid her a visit, Eunice was busy serving a growing number of customers while at the same time issuing instructions to the cooks. In her kitchen, there is no charcoal or cooking gas. Firewood does all that is required to prepare food. College students form the bulk of her customers. Once the pressure has eased off and the number of customers has reduced, we set off for Kikopey, where Eunice now lives. Hers is a walled compound with a sturdy-looking steel gate.
The compound comprises the home she shares with her husband, some rental houses with seven tenants, and a chicken coop. There is also a large water storage tank at the centre of the compound.
Eunice's life challenges have been many since childhood. She was born in 1968 in Lari, Naivasha. Her parents, Samson Muchiri and Rachel Njeri, got 14 children – eight girls and six boys. She was born seventh. The family migrated to Kitale where Eunice attended school at Cherangany Primary School.
Eunice Wanjiru at her at her 'Mama 10 Hotel' in Gilgil Town, Nakuru County on July 8, 2025.
"Life was extremely hard. My parents could not afford my school fees, so I had to drop out of school in Standard 3. We came back to Naivasha after six years in Kitale,” she recalls, and adds,
"Even after our return to Naivasha, there was no chance of continuing with school as there was no money. My sister was living in Eldoret with her husband and she helped me secure a menial job.”
Eunice worked in Eldoret for three years then returned to Naivasha. During this time, she got married to James Ngigi. That was in 1987 and they had five children, who are now adults. Ten years later in 1997, Eunice returned to work for her former employer in Eldoret, leaving her family in Naivasha, where her husband was working in a quarry. Later, she made arrangements for her children to join her in Eldoret. When violence broke out in Eldoret after the 2007 General Election, Eunice’s rental house was among those destroyed. All her belongings were also burned. Her sister was equally affected. In fear of escalating political tension in Eldoret, Eunice, together with her children, boarded a lorry out of the area.
They joined some of their neighbours and ended up in Gilgil town where camps had been established to cater for IDPs. However, the lorry did not drop them at the campsite. The driver had claimed the roads were barricaded and dropped Eunice and her children on a main road.
“As I was pondering what to do with my children, a man approached us, and after exchanging greetings and hearing our story, he offered us shelter at the Salvation Army Church in Gilgil town. He said he was in charge of the church. I thanked God for sending someone who cared."
Eunice Wanjiru displays a Sh50 note that she claimed was her capital in her 'Mama 10 Hotel' in Gilgil Town, Nakuru County on July 8, 2025.
After securing a safe place to stay with her children, Eunice joined the IDPs she found in the area, and who were queuing for food and money, only to be told she had to be registered and issued with a card to qualify for the charity. She went to the offices where registration was taking place.
“Once inside the office, I gave my details hoping to be registered like the others, but the person doing the registration looked at me and said I did not look like an IDP. I was denied registration, which meant I couldn’t get any help for my starving children. Outside the office, I came to learn that there was a very high level of corruption and discrimination in the camp, and only those known to the officials had a chance to be registered and considered for food and money."
Eunice Wanjiru feeds her chicken at her home in Kikopey, Gilgil in Nakuru County.
Eunice watched in disbelief as some IDPs were registered more than once, and instances where husband and wife were registered separately and each got a share of all that was being distributed. Some were given up to Sh50,000, others up to Sh200,000 as well as large quantities of rice and cooking oil. Others were given plots of land to put up homes in various places, including Subukia. When Eunice went back empty-handed to the church compound where she had left her children, she explained what happened to the kind preacher, who returned with her to the IDP camp to try and get her registered. They were unsuccessful once more and were forced to return to the church compound to think of another way out. She had no money, and she desperately needed food for her starving children.
“The preacher gave me Sh100, while another man who had joined the preacher and got to know what was happening gave us Sh30,” she explains, saying that was one of the lowest moments of her life, and at that point, prayed that she would never have to beg for help again.
“I had an initial discussion with the preacher on the prospects of selling porridge to construction site workers within Gilgil town," she recalls.
Armed with the Sh130, Eunice drew a budget that was divided into three parts. Supper was allocated Sh40, her sister, who had also travelled with her from Eldoret, was in serious financial problems and was allocated Sh40. The remaining Sh50 was the capital with which she started her business. She bought flour and made porridge, which she sold to construction workers nearby. The demand was high, and Eunice ploughed back the profits into her new business.
“As the demand for uji increased, my customers advised me to start making chapatis, which they thought would go very well with uji. I started with one packet of wheat flour and added another as demand increased. Apart from construction workers and other regular customers, we started to supply chapatis to hotels, colleges and schools within the town.”
Orders were also coming from areas such as Nakuru, Naivasha and Nairobi. Having established a good reputation within Gilgil and beyond, Eunice was nicknamed "Wa Chapo", a name that has become her trademark. The amount of food she prepares is dictated by the demand. The initial construction works that she benefited from have drastically reduced, and she no longer prepares porridge.
Eunice Wanjiru and her husband James Ngige Mburu on July 8, 2025
Because the business premise was such a small space, where not a single chair could fit, Eunice initially sold only on a take-away basis. Now, she has expanded the space to include four benches for her customers.
In her eatery, chapati is sold at Sh10, stew at Sh10 and tea at Sh10. In other words, no food item is sold for more than Sh10 irrespective of inflation and other economic challenges.
Despite the many challenges Eunice has encountered, she believes there is always a way out. She credits her success to her ability to start the business with just a little money, during the most difficult period of her life.
“I always had that inner drive and determination to succeed. I never liked begging. Honesty, hard work, believing in myself and above all, thanking God for everything, can open many doors.
"If I had despised the Sh130 that the preacher and his friend had given me and continued lamenting that the Sh50 balance was too little to do any business, I would not be talking to you today. God blessed that money, which, along the way, created jobs as the business picked up and eventually helped us to own a house,” she says, and adds,
“There are those who keep wondering how we make profits when we sell every item at Sh10. Even if the profit margin is thin, for me it is better than to hike prices because that will affect the poor who have nothing to eat. When the time for price adjustment comes I will do it, but with humility and dignity."
The saying, ‘It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog’, could as well have referred to Eunice Wanjiru.
