Why one Kenyan man is receiving money via M-Pesa from strangers
A man has become the recipient of Kenyans’ goodwill in form of cash tokens of appreciation for his act of kindness.
Mr Felix Otieno Oduor’s act of kindness was in returning an iPhone 6 phone he found on the road to the owner.
The owner of the phone, one Wayne Stella, has recounted how she unconsciously forgot the phone on the roof of a car belonging to a friend who had come to visit.
In her narration, some visitors had passed by her home from attending a funeral to greet her. However, due to the fact that they were in rush they declined coming into the house and met her at the gate.
LOST AND FOUND
They chatted briefly and then left. It was while they were chatting that she placed her phone on the roof of the car.
“I noticed I did not have the phone after my son’s school bus delayed and I wanted to call the driver to ask him what had happened. Simu sina! Semeni stress! We called my phone number countless times, it was going through but no answer and I gave up,” recalls Ms Stella.
She continued; “Around 7pm we see my number calling my daughter’s phone. The person on the other side said he picked up the phone near the army barracks and wanted to give it back to the owner. We asked him where he was and his location details. I requested if he can (sic) wait for me but he offered to bring it to where we were. He gave me the phone and was leaving. It had some scratches, I guess from falling off the car roof. I gave him my token of appreciation which he was refusing but we told him to take it as an appreciation for his kind gesture.”
Ms Stella who shared Mr oduor’s act of kindness in a post on Facebook, touched the hearts of netizens leading some to send him money through M-Pesa as their way of showing their gratitude.
APPRECIATIONS
Talking to Nairobi News on phone, Mr Odour said he was amazed at how generous Kenyans are, since he was not expecting any kind of gifts for what he did.
“I saw the phone lying on the side of the street as I was walking home from work. Saw a name saved on the screen saver and when I searched it on the contact list it was there. I proceeded to call the number and informed the person that I had found her phone,” says the father of one.
He says the thought of keeping it for himself didn’t cross his mind since he has a principle to never take anything that does not belong to him, although at the time he had a second hand phone that could only text messages but not receive phone calls.
“Currently I have received a total of Sh12000 from people whom I do not even know but they tell me it’s their way of saying thank you for what I did. With the money I have been able to upgrade my phone to one that can receive phone calls. And the rest of the money will help my wife and I pay some bills,” he said.
