Our Founder

After a few months at the site, I had gotten some grip on site management, construction work, people management and planning. I had to leave for the university. I enrolled and studied a BSc. in Civil Engineering, a 5 year grueling course which was impossible to finish without determination, focus and relenting commitment.

After completing my studies, I spent 6 months doing online research work and academic writing while looking for a job. After countless trips to relevant offices in the city, motivated by team spirit from a friend, we sat back and realized that an opportunity wasn’t coming anytime soon.

So my friend left the city and got a gig with an engineer he had worked with before while I remained in the city still trying while doing academic writing. I also took some online courses and learnt some programs like MS project and continued to practice my skills in AutoCAD and some fancy rendering software (I didn’t get to use these fancy software much though).

One evening, I stumbled upon a platform called LinkedIn. I was just doing my usual job hunting online when this happened. So I checked it out, created and account and continued searching for opportunities. I only knew LinkedIn as a job application platform only!! (This would stay in my mind for many years).

I finally got my first job through LinkedIn!. Did the interview and was hired on the spot. Was given three days to put my things in order and report on a Monday. For sure, I didn’t have much things to put in order, I just wanted to get a job and start working!

I was posted about 350Kms from the city in a small town in western part of Kenya. I worked there for some months then I was transferred to another station, in a bigger town, still in western region. I got the gist of working with teams of close to a hundred people through designing, building and supervision. This first job would come to an end two years later when I got another job. I moved back to the capital city to take up the new role. This is where things started getting interesting!!!

I was tasked with creating two departments for a new company that had just moved in the country from Europe. Working with a small team, then growing the team, processes, policies, standards and compliance while executing projects. I must say this was a huge change for me, but I was trusted to deliver, and boy, I gave it all I had. Laser focus.

I learnt something about me that I hadn’t known before. I had the ability to learn and adapt very quickly. I took up more courses, trainings and reading, while developing a team to run two departments. The reason for this was that the company started small and couldn’t go full swing to hire an entire team in a new market it was setting foot upon for the first time.

I hired two guys to support me while we developed the departments and executing projects. One year down the line, the company had taken shape, with processes in place and people to make things happen at each step. Setting up this company, of course with other team members, gave me the hint that I could help start-up companies develop efficient internal processes and procedures. An idea was also born that I could help existing companies streamline their processes as well.

While I harbored this idea, I continued to work for the company for another 3 years. By this time, I knew all the ins and outs of the business and what could raise and bring down revenues at the palm of my hands. After Covid hit, the business suffered severely since we didn’t offer soft services. We were in construction and maintenance of service stations, with lock downs, things south. Some people were laid off. Many people. I survived the chopping knife!!

For another year and half, I continued working until I resigned. The company got a new ownership which had different direction and interests which did not align with what I was pursuing. My career in project management was not going to be dragged into a different direction, so we parted ways.

I was able to get another job within two months! When I reported to the new company, I realized, on day one, that all the things I had learnt about processes and project management were going to be employed 100% because it was chaos. After spending three months aligning processes, the company saw an improvement in employees’ motivation, customer satisfaction, increased revenues due to savings made from eliminating inefficient processes.

That thought that was born in me about three years earlier cropped up again. I realized that no matter the amount of effort I put in improving the processes and getting very good results for the company, I was limited to what I could do and the level of growth.

I decided to take a bold step to start my own company, Kilele Craft Ltd, to implement project management best practices in construction, energy and sustainability.

As at 2024, our main focus is to serve the diaspora community. Existing problem: Lack of trust by the diaspora community on construction service providers in Kenya & E.Africa.

Why?- There are thousands of Kenyans who would love to invest back in the country. Most of them buy plots but the parcels remain undeveloped for years. Some have tried building through relatives or friends and have been duped. Some have been scammed by fake contractors and have lost millions.

Solution: That’ where we come in. Kilele is a uniquely set up company with transparent processes from the very first time a client contacts us up to the point we hand over the work to the client.

I have built and continue to build a strong online presence to educate and guide potential developers on best practices, things to avoid, processes, red flags, and a miriad of other topics. My motivation to show our fellow countrymen and women who are working hard out there that there is a trusted partner who has their interests, needs, desires, and aspirations at heart and is ready to help them build back at home in their motherland.

I am also passionate about training companies on project management best practices, that empower both their teams and helps them save resources and increase their profits.

Kilele is a Swahili word which means Summit. My dream is to be at the summit of Africa in terms of project management consulting, process improvement/streamlining for companies that cannot afford the likes of BCG, Bain, KPMG, Delloitte, Pwc, etc

This is not the end of this story because I believe in more amazing opportunities to grow and impact other people’s lives, the African way! “If you have systems, you HAVE a business, if you don’t have systems, you ARE the business” a quote by Allan Dib.