STREETWISE MARKETING
Chamas: A Hallowed
Investment Vehicle Or A
Disaster?
By Evans Majeni
S
ometime last year, we lost a
charismatic young man in very
sad circumstances. Naturally, what
followed was an outpouring of grief.
Immediately, a funeral committee was
formed to raise funds and give the
departed a befitting sendoff.
True to expectation, money, just as grief
flowed. In less than two weeks, we had
collected enough money to fly the body
home and build for the widow a decent
house.
After laying the body to rest, we got a
little excited. Everyone was in agreement
that we should transform the funeral
WhatsApp group into a welfare society
that would eventually take care of the
widow, the children and any other victims
in future.
We thought we could rely on the goodwill
of the deceased and the momentum
thereafter to achieve this noble course.
Boy, we were wrong! Our efforts never
went beyond opening a bank account.
Immediately, village feuds and supremacy
battles took over. To date, no one cares
what befell the poor widow and her
toddlers.
It was in such an event that after rounds
of beer, a proposal was floated to form
an investment Chama. Everyone was
enthusiastic about this idea so much so that
almost immediately a WhatsApp group
Elsewhere, we had a chance to reminisce was formed and funds started flowing-in
over days gone by with former classmates accompanied by anecdotes of successful
through our Alumni reunion. These, stories of Chamas worldwide.
naturally, are nostalgic moments. One is
reminded of the passage of time and the It’s hardly two years and the politics is
toll it has on our bodies.
suffocating. We don’t seem to agree on
anything. No single proposal however
Indeed, it is humbling to find former mundane passes without endless arguments
children of privilege - those who were all and needless intellectual showdown.
tender and smooth in school now withered, Remember we are business graduates!
their enviable position taken over by those Already some members are getting weary
villagers who landed government jobs of this absurd show and are “lefting” the
or the ladies who got lucky in marriage. group.
You discover that your college crush; the
It does not end here. Many of us have
been dragged into Chamas on grounds
of being neighbors, former employees or
schoolmates, villagers, drinking buddies
or church members. Ironically, we expect
these diverse movements to grow into
big investment groups and ultimately big
corporations.
A group is a strong as its weakest link, in
this case, member. There is nothing like a
strong team with weak members. The as-
sumption that you become stronger by sim-
ply coming together is a lie. Strength is not
in the numbers but quality of the member-
ship. A group of ten weaklings is the same as
multiplying the weakness by ten. A disaster.
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MAL27/18 ISSUE
one you couldn’t gather enough guts to
approach is now nestled in the arms of that
college drunkard. That’s life.
I have also seen legitimate groups with
genuine bonds and common needs that
have come together to pool resources to
boost their ventures. I was once in such a
group. Our group, which later transformed