I made my first million at 19, selling bedsheets – Senator Millicent Omanga
Nominated Senator Millicent Omanga has revealed that she made her first million shillings at the age of 19 as a hawker.
Speaking during an interview on MC Jessy’s Youtube show, Jessy Junction, Omanga said she started her entrepreneurial journey as an undergraduate at the University of Nairobi and earned her first million within a year.
“By 20 I bought a new car and I was still in the university. I would use a portion of my school fees to buy a few things in Eastleigh that I would later sell at a profit. By exam time I had made profits and I would use that to clear my fees,” she said.
The Jubilee Senator said she used to sell everything she could to make money, including bedsheets.
“I am one of the biggest bedsheet suppliers in the country,” she claimed.
The politician added that she made her first million after she won a tender to supply bedsheets to an Eldoret-based hotel, which enabled her to begin importing more items.
“I had capital (after making Sh1 million) and I knew I would get a good car in Dubai. I paid the deposit and got some more items,” she said.
Two years ago, during an end-of-year-party for Pitchface, a marketing company owned by South Mugirango MP Sylvanus Osoro, Omanga said she was not shy to say that William Ruto was behind her success and lifted her from ‘hawking’ and made her a public figure.
“This is one man who believes in the leadership of the youth,” she added.
She said her appointment as a director at the Kenya Electricity Generating Company (KenGen) after Jubilee took power in 2013, was organised by the DP.
Omanga, who was nominated by the ruling party, revealed that she was summoned by then Energy CS Davis Chirchir to his office and within an hour, she was a director at KenGen.
“When CS Chirchir called and asked if I was in Nairobi before directing me to rush to his office, I wondered what I had done. I got to his office and he informed me that the following day, KenGen would be holding its annual general meeting and that I had been nominated as one of the directors. I could not believe it,” she said then.
“I was bargaining with the Asian shopkeeper for a good price that could ensure I got a profit when I resold the sheets later when the call summoning me to Chirchir’s office came,” she told the gathering.
She served as a director at the company from 2013 to 2017.
Omanga says she now owns and runs Milways Enterprises, a company that deals in construction, interior décor, and imported furniture.