Garissa: Safaricom has unveiled Abdi Hassan as the first winner of Sh1 million in the ongoing Shangwe@25 promotion in Garissa County. Hassan, who works as a turn boy, said that he was working on a vehicle when he received the good news call and he plans to build a house for his parents and start a business for himself with the cash reward.
According to Kenya News Agency, Hassan expressed his excitement about the unexpected windfall. “I was busy working on fitting a Tarpaulin on a vehicle when I received a call from Safaricom informing me that I had won Sh1 million. I am very happy that I will build a house for my parents and start my own business,” Hassan said. He also mentioned his intention to support a local school with water tanks and desks, using Sh250,000 meant for community support.
Since its launch, the Shangwe@25 promotion has been rewarding thousands of customers daily and weekly with cash prizes, data bundles, devices, and business support tools. Each week, over 800 customers win amounts ranging from Sh10,000, Sh50,000, and Sh100,000. More than 5 million customers are expected to win prizes worth Sh250 million over the promotion period. Customers can participate by transacting on M-PESA, sending money, paying with M-PESA, using or redeeming Bonga Points, or purchasing Safaricom products such as data bundles, voice bundles, digital services, or Home Fibre subscriptions.
In addition to the ongoing promotion, Safaricom also launched a sharia-compliant lipa pole pole phone product to enable the Muslim community to acquire smartphones with daily flexible payments for one year. According to one of Safaricom’s cluster leaders, Mr Athman Ahmed, customers will be able to access the phones with only a Sh1,000 deposit and pay the balance over 365 days. “We have launched a Sharia compliant product, where we have partnered with Onfon mobile to sell phones on lipa pole pole where the customers will be able to pay a deposit of Sh1,000 and pay the balance in installments of Sh55 within 365 days,” Ahmed stated. He emphasized that the collaboration with Islamic scholars and leaders aimed to ensure the product’s acceptability for Muslims in the country.
