move to full time business was easy, his frown returned as he explained with an air of seriousness what the trying times have taught him. “I think one should go to a school of psychology rather than a business college when contemplating becoming an entrepreneur,” he advised. “I did a business diploma and later pursued an MBA which I thought would equip me for the challenges ahead. Well, that doesn’t prepare you mentally to be tough when sales are slow and you have to pay salaries.” The biggest challenge that Vitabiotics faced was that of distribution. Chomba revealed that to get a product like Immunace to a place like Upington by courier costs more than the product itself. Hence it was a big break for the company when their products were approved for distribution through Clicks which has about 400 stores and 280 pharmacies nationally.
Mwai Kibaki in Pretoria, hosted the Commission for the Implementation of the Constitution (CIC) and I represented the association at the meeting of Kenyan Ambassadors held in Mombasa.” At the time of the interview, the association was also working on a plan to mobilise assistance for Kenyans who have been affected by the ongoing drought in East Africa. “The association has a draft constitution largely borrowed from a similar association for Kenyans in Holland,” Chomba explained continued. “It will guide the membership and leadership structure as well as establish a continuous process for raising funds to make it self-sufficient. It is important that the organisation unlike the many that came before it outlives its interim office bearers.” Conscious of the many organisations that have previously represented Kenyans in SA, I ask
Chomba what different.
makes
KEDASA
“Being an umbrella body means that we essentially have corporate members including a number of churches, Prokey, KESABA, student bodies, KEFA and the Upendo Women’s Investments Group. Our approach is different seeing as we are not competing with these organisations but rather inviting them to participate in a collaborative effort. If you consider the success of the CIC meeting, belonging to an umbrella body facilitates communication as the different bodies bring in their members for each project.” Chomba is a 36 year old father of two; daughter Lerato and son Tsepo. His plan is to establish a few companies in SA over the next decade that can run themselves without his involvement then return to Kenya to participate in national development. - KC ROTTOK
“That was a new beginning for us,” he beamed. And speaking of new beginnings, I asked Chomba about a new association he has been at the forefront of founding known as the Kenyan Diaspora Association of South Africa (KEDASA). “We had a meeting in May to form the association as an umbrella body for the many different Kenyan groups that exist in South Africa. The inaugural office bearers are drawn from these groups and so far we have presented our views to President
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