From 'penny moja' in 1964 to millionaires, meet the rich grannies of Wote Town
Some members of Wendo wa Wote Women Group at their slaughterhouse in Wote town, Makueni County. The women own 29 rental houses and run the town’s only slaughterhouse.
What you need to know:
- Wendo wa Wote Women Group owns 29 rental houses in Wote’s central business district, with the members individually owning more houses and other businesses in the town.
- They started off as a self-help group of neighbours.
- Members draw at least Sh1,300,000 in dividends annually.
When members of Wendo wa Wote Women Group came together five decades ago, they never thought their unity would transcend generations and lift their families into the club of the richest in Makueni County.
Today, their daughters and daughters-in-law meet at the only slaughterhouse in Wote town, the county’s administrative capital.
The close-knit group of women entrepreneurs has defied negative speculations and changed the face of merry-go-rounds and table banking, at least in the region.
Trading as a self-help group, Wendo wa Wote Women Group owns 29 rental houses in Wote’s central business district, with the members individually owning more houses and other businesses in the town.
The women are, however, known more for running the town’s only modern slaughterhouse set up more than 50 years ago.
"We slaughter at least 40 goats and 10 cows daily," group chairperson Anna Kimatu says.
A service charter displayed at the slaughterhouse indicates that it costs Sh410 and Sh1,060 to slaughter a goat and a cow, respectively.
The charges increase to Sh610 and Sh2,000 for a goat and a cow respectively, when the animals are brought for slaughtering after 11am, when the business at the slaughterhouse that opens every day, officially closes.
Rental houses
Until 2017, the group of entrepreneurs hired casual workers at the slaughterhouse. "We have since employed 15 workers and a manager who is in charge of the day-to-day running of the abattoir and the rental houses," Ms Kimatu tells nation.africa.
The founder members came together at the advent of Independence. They traced their roots to plantations. Although 25 of the 29 founders have since died, their first, second and third generations have been savouring the fruits of the business empires.
During the festive season, they meet up to take stock of the year’s business before sharing at least a million shillings, dividends accrued from the investments made by the matriarchs over the decades.
“Members draw at least Sh1,300,000 in dividends annually. We also offer them unsecured loans for which they are not required to pay interest. The money is recovered from the dividends if one is unable to pay the loans,” says Meshack Nyamai, the manager of the group’s investments.
He approximates that the women are worth at least Sh10 million in assets, a big deal considering they came together with nothing but a determination to slay poverty.
They started off as a self-help group of neighbours. They would move from one household to the next helping each other with chores, including tilling of land and thatching houses. They went into table banking after a member visited a women’s group in Machakos and borrowed the idea.
“We came together in 1964 as the adult womenfolk in Kavati village. Having tested our unity, we started contributing money every time we met. We actually started with a penny before we advanced to two. Instead of distributing the cash, we saved it with the treasurer,” says 79-year-old Martha Mbula, a founding member.
The accumulated money went into buying seeds, which they would then distribute among ourselves before the onset of the rainy seasons. They would also buy bales of wheat flour for cooking chapati and buns during the Christmas festivities.
When the women set up residential houses in the sleepy township and expanded their portfolio by setting up the slaughterhouse, they stopped the contributions.
“Instead, we have been harvesting from what our mothers sowed. The regular dividends have helped us in paying school fees, buying seeds and setting up shops in town,” says Ms Josephine Makau, the group’s secretary.
Numerical strength
The group has become a benchmarking destination for up-and-coming self-help groups engaged in table banking. Their ventures have been cited several times when fighting off criticism that self-help groups engage in zero-sum games.
Makueni Deputy Governor Adelina Mwau has openly championed a campaign for women to come together to tap their numerical strength. She advises them to invest in more impactful ventures and has rolled out a water tank table banking scheme dubbed Nzangule ya Matangi where the county government has provided 600 self-help groups with seed tanks for harvesting rain water.
"Instead of coming together to buy utensils and bales of wheat flour, self-help groups should consider helping each other acquire water tanks to address water scarcity,” she says while taking pride in the Wendo wa Wote Women Group milestones.
The constitution caps the group’s membership at 29 women. Although they work with men, they believe allowing men to steer the group is condemning it to death. When a member dies, her share in the group goes to either one of her daughters or daughter-in-law. Most of the current members are married to sons of the founder members.
The group is looking forward to adding three more revenue streams—production of chickens, chicken feed and biogas.
"The slaughterhouse produces a lot of waste, which we are considering converting to biogas for clean energy. We are currently exploring ways of acquiring a heavy-duty biodigester so that we start marketing biogas," Ms Kimatu said.
