I was privileged to know Mzee Mwangi Chege back in my younger days growing up at Kivumbini No.1 Estate, Nakuru town. He and his family were living in a block next to ours and I'm sure my fellow Nakuru Golden Years & Today (NGYT) admin, Bishop Joseph Karanja, senior pastor of USA's Rehoboth Harvest Ministry, Pennsylvania, knew him too as the latter was also our neighbour on the southern end of the vintage municipal estate.

The humble, friendly Joel Mwangi Chege and his associates were the pacesetters for the present generation of indigenous, upright businesspersons, upcoming traders, and developers. They set the bar high, directly or indirectly - through their unified hardworking spirit, bulletproof courage, relentless determination, firm discipline, and steadfast vision.

In the post-Independence era, the late Mzee Muraya Chege (who passed on last year), together with Mzee Joel Mwangi Chege and other shareholders started their real estate conglomerate. Shirikisho Highlife, their umbrella investment, hit the ground running with such properties as Shirikisho Hotel, which was such a monumental, high-end hospitality investment that Kenya's founding father Mzee Jomo Kenyatta found time to open it officially in 1974.

 Today, on its former location, there stands Kenya Women Finance Trust (KWFT) and just adjacent, Le Rhino Hotel. These partners in business continued investing together in many parts of Nakuru town and beyond thus becoming a force to reckon with in real estate. The strategically positioned Hotel Shik-Park View right in the heart of town on Kenyatta Avenue, still belonging to these Nakuru big-business pioneers opened its doors in 1988 to the delight of the youth of the day.

In other words, these elderly, enterprising business-magnates have mentored many noble successful and potentially successful Nakuru entrepreneurs to follow in their footsteps. On behalf of the NGYT fraternity, I, John Githanga, convey my heart-felt sympathies to all the descendants of Mzee Joel Mwangi Chege, relatives, and friends. May our Good Lord rest his soul in eternal peace.

Joel Mwangi Chege was laid to rest on Friday, March 1, 2019 at his Ndege Farm in Lanet, Nakuru County.