Javan
New member
Radio Citizen presenter Fred Kubachi Machoka owns a ranch that stretches 15 acres in the serene escarpments of Kisaju along the Kitengela-Namanga road at Isinya, Kajiado County.
Freds Ranch, as he calls it, is more than just a home but a dream come true for him since it has become a tourist destination and a spot where you can take a breather from your long journey and enjoy nyama choma and some cold drinks.
According to Machoka, the finished product looks easy, but getting there milked him dry and almost reduced him to a beggar.
"Many assume this must be so easy, if Fred did it, I can also do it. Some have tried to replicate the idea but have failed miserably because they do not know the thorns behind this rosy story. Very few people know the heart-crushing journey my family and I have walked to build this wonder, " said the popular radio presenter.
Machoka went on to narrate how he took a huge loan to buy the land in 1993 and left many people thinking he's gone mad. The loan of Ksh 1.7 million, however, turned out to be too much for him and he had to sell off some of the acres to offset it which, by then, had burgeoned to Ksh 7 million.
"It all started 27 years ago when Machoka was still young with the passion and vibrancy of a youth determined to make it in life, despite the odds," said the veteran media personality.
“When I bought this land in 1993, I looked like a crazy man. It was pure wilderness and save for a few Masaai pastoralists, I was a lone ranger in a foreign land. Though I did not settle there immediately, many people wondered why I bought such neglected land which was at the time going for Sh47,500 per acre, a pricey figure 20 years ago."
He went on to share how he and his wife Sophie took the loan from AFC, the State financier so that he could buy the land.
“Initially, I bought 50 acres and took a KSh1.6 million loan and by the time I cleared, it had shot to Sh7.5 million because of interest. I struggled to repay it. I was forced to sell off 30 acres to repay the loan and finance my project. There were many dark and painful days and nights and my wife knows this too well,” he recalls.
Still, even though now he has gotten his footing, Machoka still avoids taking risks because they have been a tough lesson for him and his wife.
“I have undertaken almost all farming projects and I have burnt my fingers several times. There was a time I had grown tomatoes which did so well because of the rich soils and water was sufficient. I got a bumper harvest. Sadly, when I took the produce to the market, it was flooded with tomatoes. To avoid further losses, I had to sell a whole pickup truck load at Sh2,000. That was even less than the money I paid for fuel to ferry the tomatoes there. That was another blood pressure-causing moment but I kept dreaming big," he said.