On Christmas Eve, about four years ago, Wiumiririe village was a quiet area save for the occasional noise from a few vehicles ferrying travellers back home from towns for the holiday.
But today, the once sleepy little village has suddenly become a tourist destination, welcoming guests paying a high of Sh60,000 per night, thanks to a plan by one of their neighbours.
And as George Tafaria Waititu pockets the tidy sum, local residents, many of whom are low income workers, are welcoming the sudden change with glee.
In just four years, the price of land has ballooned, from an average of Sh60,000 an acre to the current quote price of Sh1 million.
The story of Wiumiririe village is one of transformation and what entrepreneurship can do beyond satisfaction to the business owners. The secrets behind such a turnaround and some of the things taken for granted but mean a lot to individuals’ lives is equally telling.
“Four years ago, banks could not accept title deeds from this area as security for loans,” Mr Waititu notes adding that his primary aim was to bring social prestige in his home village.
“Nobody wanted to be associated with Wiumiririe,” he recalls. The rural area had been neglected and as a result, it was cut off from mainstream communication, roads, water systems, and electricity network among similar social amenities.
“In fact, I did not come here to look for land to build a hotel, this is where I grew up since I was a five-year-old,” Mr Waititu noted.
Having left the corporate life, the former Synovate managing director made a decision to return to his village and transform it.
“The environment was very brutal. This was a migratory corridor for animals from the park which is only four kilometres to the Tafaria,” he recalls.
“Tafaria is a deliberate effort to come to the rural village and transform it by bringing social amenities in terms of water, electricity, and roads as well as to create jobs,” Mr Waititu states.
Tafaria opened its doors to the first visitor in 2012 and two years later, Mr Waititu says he has seen land adjacent to his property appreciate in value exponentially.
“An average cost of an acre now stands at about Sh1 million in just a span of two years,” he remarks adding that, “banks are now willing to take the title deeds as collateral.
“Before that they were never interested in taking the title deeds as collateral. Now people even come to invest back home and this has reversed the rural urban migration.”
According to Mr Waititu, investors need to look beyond the cities.
“By building Tafaria alone, there was massive skill transfer to the village,” he added.
According to him, rural areas are normally condemned as zones of low social prestige and the residents are viewed as less brainy.
“However, having done the project, I can bear witness that all that the people in rural areas need is inspiring leadership towards a good course and they can achieve greatness. There is talent in abundance,” he notes.
Achieving all this has, however, not been an easy ride for the investor and his co-founder-cum-wife Eunice Tafaria.
Horses grazing outside the Tafaria Castle on October 27, 2012. PHOTO | SALATON NJAU
Today, he urges the government to support local investors by providing infrastructure to ensure accessibility, water and electricity among others.
“We got no help from the government in terms of infrastructure. We still are not getting any support,” he said adding, “right now, when I see a road, I have a lot of respect for it because I know how much hard work has been put into that and the continuous repair needed.”
“We have been very deliberate about our target market which is 100 per cent local tourists,” says Mr Waititu who also adds that the farm products used to make delicacies at the centre are bought from the village.
Mr Waititu brought Wiumirire village back to life by making a bold step to look and see a great opportunity where others couldn’t
As a way of thanking those who worked with him to achieve this dream, Mr Waititu set up a plinth of honour for 200 constructors in memory of their contribution to the Tafaria Castle.
“Very often or indeed at all times, fundis (constructors) go un-noticed after a building is complete. What remains is a shining plaque of ‘this building was officially opened by so and so.’ And the fundis are forgotten soon thereafter, but is different at Tafaria Castle where all the fundis who build the castle are immortalised at the plinth of honour,” Mr Waititu explains.
