Meet Kisumu man aspiring to sell groundnuts to Ruto

Ezekiel Kawere Rutha popularly known as CJ Kawere Twita has been travelling with his roasted groundnuts to all the Gor Mahia FC matches across the country and the region.

The latest is the much-watched Mashemeji Derby at the Nyayo National Stadium, Nairobi.

With his four children raised from his daily groundnut sales, Twita says he started the stadium hawking business in 2008 after he had tried all types of businesses and employment which weren’t working.

“Kupata kazi hapa Kenya ni ngumu sana, and because I love watching my favourite club play, I saw a gap and grabbed the opportunity,” he said.

Twita, who is known by nearly all Gor Mahia fans said he has travelled across the country, with readily fried groundnuts.

With his funny talking ascent, Kawere Twira rarely speaks in Swahili, he welcomes his clients with a taste of groundnuts before selling it to them.

When we spoke, he only smiled while telling jokes, this is a tactic he says helped him sell his groundnuts with joy.

“Unauzaje Njugu,” I asked, he replied with a happy face pretending to not have heard what I said shouting “Sorry, Sorry, Madam,” he said while handing over “Kionjo”

On Sunday, Kawere Twita travelled from Kisumu the previous night to watch the Mashemeji Derby, with his signature flag and attire branded his name – CJ Kawere Twita and was scheduled to travel back after the derby.

“On Saturday mchana, I roasted groundnuts worth Sh5,000 and packed them nicely in this bag, as I was looking forward to this derby,” he added.

From the sales, Kawere says he gains a profit of up Sh1,500 on a good walk around the stadium.

“My groundnut goes from Sh50 to Sh100, and people love them as I am friendly with them, in the process, we also talk football, who should be benched and we move,” he said.

His highlight, he says was when he travelled to Dar Es Salam, Tanzania during the Gor Mahia vs Everton match.

“I have even sold groundnut to Wayne Rooney when I went to Tanzania, that was the best day of my life, it was also my dream to board a plane and it happened, just by being a groundnut seller,” he said.

Kawere also hopes to sell his groundnut to President William Ruto.