A dream doesn't become reality through magic. It takes sweat, determination and hard work.

Thursday 24 October 2013

Cruise Boat Owned by a Kenyan in the US Sinks after Sabotage

By Mwakilishi | 10/24/2013 

What was meant to be a dream investment for one Kenyan living in the United States literally sank before the business venture even kicked off. Sammy Maina, a resident of Lowell, Massachusetts has always had a dream of running a cruise boat business on Lake Naivasha. After years of hard work and savings, he managed to buy an 18-seater boat in Attenborough, MA and shipped it to Kenya. He hoped the boat would be the first of a future a fleet of boats under his newly Kenyan-registered company, Marions Lake Cruises that would provide tours of Lake Naivasha to families, friends and corporate clients.

Baby Amani, as the boat had been nicknamed, arrived in Naivasha a few weeks ago and was scheduled to begin operations on October 21st. It would have been the only one of its kind in Lake Naivasha. That was however not to be  after Maina woke up that morning to find that some unknown people had sneaked to the boat’s docking spot overnight and drilled hole on its platoons, sinking the boat under water. The boat was today pulled out of the water but has been extensively damaged, with all the electrical units, engine, generator, television, sound and navigation systems completely damaged.

After spending a total of Ksh7 million to purchase, ship the boat and acquire the necessary licenses, Maina is still assessing whether the boat is a total loss, and whether to continue with the business. “I personally don’t have the morale and money...but time will tell,” says Maina.  “For now, my faith in God and my 7 months old daughter, not forgetting my wife, pastor and friends are the ones who have made sure that I go through this smoothly.”


Though he does not yet know the culprits behind this, Maina, who also runs on MPesa business in Lowell, MA and is one of the founders of jambobostonradio.com, suspects some jealous people running similar businesses around the lake and felt threatened by his new venture may have sank the boat. “My goal was to create jobs by hiring youths and openingideas to business owners in the area,” says Maina, while adding that it is setbacks such as this hinder that Kenyans in the Diaspora from investing in their motherland.

He has contacted Kenyan authorities in hopes of getting the perpetrators of this cruel act apprehended. Anyone who may have information on this can also contact him by email at sammainas@yahoo.com

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