A 77-year-old artisan and his 68-year-old wife are sustaining their livelihood in Kericho through a Jua Kali enterprise that transforms discarded materials into household products, demonstrating the role of practical skills and small businesses in supporting families. Peter Muiruri Mbugua and his wife, Nelly Nduta, operate Jehovah Jireh Tinsmith, a family business that manufactures charcoal ovens, aluminium frying pans and piggy banks from old metal tins. They also repurpose discarded car tyres into chicken coops, turning waste materials into useful products.
Located along the busy road leading from Kericho town towards Kiprugut Chumo Stadium, their workshop serves customers looking for locally made household items. Mbugua began learning the trade in the early 1980s before establishing the business with his wife in 1996. Over the years, the enterprise has helped them raise and educate their seven children, who are now adults.
The couple can make sales of up to KSh10,000 on a good day, although Mbugua says business has slowed amid rising living costs. He recalls that daily sales previously reached KSh15,000 on a good day.
“Consistency is what has kept us going, as well as good health, and we are grateful to God,” Mbugua said.
Jua Kali Skills Create Self-Employment Opportunities
Beyond providing income for his family, Mbugua has trained workers who later established their own Jua Kali businesses, passing on practical skills that can help others become self-reliant. His enterprise illustrates how technical abilities acquired through experience can support entrepreneurship and create employment beyond formal workplaces.
The couple’s work also demonstrates the potential of recycling and resource recovery. By converting old metal tins and discarded tyres into marketable products, they reduce waste while meeting everyday household and poultry-farming needs. To diversify the family’s income, Mbugua has also ventured into poultry farming within the limited space around the workshop.
Couple Urges Youth to Embrace Practical Trades
Nduta has encouraged young people to explore Jua Kali enterprises, noting that practical trades can provide a pathway to independent livelihoods.
“We are encouraging young people to venture into Jua Kali businesses, since they are still young and energetic, and they will do great exploits,” she said.
Mbugua has also commended government investment in technical and vocational education and training (TVET), saying practical skills can help young people establish businesses and create self-employment opportunities. Kenya’s informal economy relies on artisans and small enterprises operating in areas such as metal fabrication, repair, carpentry, welding and manufacturing. Such businesses provide goods and services while creating opportunities for skills transfer and income generation.
For young people interested in technical trades, the couple’s experience highlights the value of learning a practical skill, understanding customer needs and maintaining consistency in business operations. Despite the challenges posed by changing market conditions and the cost of living, Mbugua and Nduta continue to run their workshop, showing how experience, resourcefulness and determination can sustain a family enterprise for decades.