Denied justice, now thriving in the business incubator
Sabiti Amisi Maobi, a 32-year-old father of two, is a victim of denied justice. In 2016, Amisi was forced to flee his home country Congo, after involvement in an accident. He had accidentally knocked down a woman to death with his bicycle and was sought after for revenge by the deceased family members who wanted to kill him and all his family members. Although Amisi and his wife survived the killing attempts having gone to hiding, his father was killed, and his mother internally displaced to a place she could not be traced. His efforts to seek justice proved futile as the government went silent on the matter. Fearing for his life and that of his wife, it dawned on him that he had to seek refuge. That’s how Amisi together with his wife fled to Kakuma Refugee Camp with the help of UNHCR.
Amisi, who currently resides in Kalobeyei, is not unique to the challenges faced by other refugees in the camp such as harsh climate change and culture shock due to interactions with people from different nationalities among others. With the need to supplement what was given to them by UNHCR, Amisi and his wife had to engage in manual jobs. where they saved the money earned with a vision to start a retail business that was not popular in the area which he established in 2017.
In 2019, he was among the selected Businesses Incubates by AAHI where, besides gaining skills to enhance his business, he was awarded a loan to expand his business. With the money, he increased stock of the business which eventually led to an increase in the number of customers he receives. Amisi testifies of having increased income with a stable business, readily serving the community in Kalobeyei Village. Additionally, Amisi has created employment for other people, whom he pays daily.
“My dream is to invest more in the business and create more branches in Kalobeyei and Kakuma,” Amisi concludes.