How love for cars and technology grew into lucrative business for 24-year-old
24-year old Paul Mwinga.
Locking yourself out of the car with the keys inside is not a rare incident. This is why Paul Mwinga commonly known as 'Meja' from Naivasha has turned your misery into a money-making business.
"I deal with car key programming, car computer repairs, and programming, car general wirings and repairs, car computerized diagnostics and general car maintenance. I am not your common car mechanic," he says with a smile.
For Meja, his love for cars started when he was a young boy.
Even though they did not own a vehicle at their home, Meja knew that he would spend the rest of his life, trying to understand the inner workings of a vehicle.
Meja notes that he started the trade after being introduced to it by his cousin when he completed his Automotive Engineering Diploma in 2020.
"It's interesting how people are attached to their cars especially those who feel like they know everything and are therefore on your neck every time telling you what to do," he says.
Additionally, some customers tend not to trust him since he's young especially those driving high-end cars.
Paul Mwinga has specialized in computerized diagnostics and car programming.
Despite all these, Meja has perfected his skills through online resources like YouTube, as automotive school teachings often fall short of keeping up with evolving car technology.
Though still under his cousin's mentorship, the 24-year-old says that he's working towards owning his yard since the tools and software required in his job are very expensive.
Another challenge that Meja reveals to Mtaa Wangu is that since his job falls under the Juakali sector, it becomes very difficult to get a loan from financial institutions.
However, it's not all gloom and doom as he notes that the income he gets can cater to his needs.
"In this sector, you need to be adaptable as sometimes you can take home almost Sh 10,000 a day and other days you can make only Sh1,000," he highlights.
To this end, he says that one must develop a saving culture and financial adaptability to survive in this dynamic industry.