How I Made It: From A Kamiti Prisoner To Getting A Job At KCB Bank

How are ex prisoners perceived in the society? Most times, they do not get a  good treatment and no one is ready to be associated with a ‘criminal’

But meet Gregory Kwasira, an electrical engineer at Kenya Commercial Bank who knows what it means to be stuck in jail at a young age.

“I was only 20 when I was imprisoned at Kamiti YCTC. Ironically that experience has shaped my life into what it is today and I have since learnt that everything that happens in one’s life is for a reason, if only you open your mind to it,” Gregory reveals to the Parents Magazine.

He was brought up in Khayega in Western Kenya and when he was four his mum remarried after his dad left to study in the US. He was raised by his grandparents for 13 years and became rebellious and lazy after KCSE and opted to spend his days at the village changaa dens with his friends instead of working.

“I learnt that being independent was no easy task and started stealing my grandfather’s maize and selling it to get money to feed and drink with my friends,” Gregory explains the genesis of his criminal life.

He later stole a Panasonic video deck that belonged to his grandfather with the aim of selling it to raise his bus fare to Mombasa – his intended destination.

It was this act that landed him in Kamiti YCTC on November 9, 2004 for six months; an act that left him bitter.

His term came to an end and he went to Kakamega where he faced rejection. His grandfather and father wouldn’t allow him back in their houses nor would his mother.

He was given accommodation by a distant grandmother and to support himself did menial jobs in the village.

“Because of the negative tag of an ex-convict that I carried, people misused me and often paid me very little or refused to pay after I had done the work. Nevertheless, I was able to save enough for bus fare to Nakuru to seek assistance from a distant uncle who lived there. He helped me get a job,” Gregory recounts.

He worked In Nakuru for a while before relocating to Cherengani in Kitale for a job where he went without pay for months. He returned to Nakuru where he got another job which he quit and relocated to Nairobi to work as a barber and a mason.

With the help of his uncle, Patrick Sikokoti, Gregory eventually got a better paying casual job at English Press in 2006 and made savings that helped him enroll for evening classes at the Kenya Polytechnic where he studied for a diploma in electrical engineering.

It was a big struggle affording college fees and there were times he supplemented his income by working as a matatu tout before reporting to his shift at the English Press.

He graduated in 2009 and got a job with an electrical company in Nairobi and later enrolled for a degree programme in electrical engineering at the Kenya Polytechnic and graduated in 2011.

As he looked for a job, he started volunteering at Kamiti YCTC as a counselor. He got a job as an electrical engineer at the Kenya Commercial Bank in July 2011. He was honest about his past as he went through the interview process.

He advises anyone with a dark history to come out clean, especially when you are going through an interview process, as in this digital age your past will soon catch up with you.

“I now work at the KCB head office. My job changed my life. I want to tell those reading my story that no one should ever give up on themselves in spite of their circumstances,” says Gregory.

Gregory now works closely with the Kamiti YCTC as a stakeholder. He also liaises with Shimo la Tewa prison in Mombasa. He is currently working with his employer to equip Kamiti YCTC with computers to help inmates gain useful computer skills.

“You can fall down so many times but it all depends on how you rise up, pick up the pieces and move on. Don’t hold onto bitterness and keep believing in yourself,” he advices.

He is currently undertaking a Masters degree in electrical design at Hebrew University in Israel.

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