Buzeki is a popular Kenyan entrepreneur and politician. The name Buzeki is derived from the first letters of his name Bundotich Zedekiah Kiprop (Bu-Ze-Ki). His story is a rags to riches one as he had very humble beginnings. He worked hard and smart to become the person he is today.
The well established entrepreneur plunged into the world of politics and unsuccessfully ran for the Uasin Gishu gubernatorial seat in the 2017 election that was won by Jackson Mandago.
Age
The successful entrepreneur is in his late 40s.
Family
There is no information about his family. He has kept his family out of the public eye.
Education
Buzeki Bundotich attended Molo Academy where he performed well and got a chance to join Mang’u High School. He is also a holder of a higher international diploma in sales and marketing from Cambridge University and a Degree in Sales and Marketing.
Career
The renowned businessman became a self made billionaire in his 30s, a feat not many get to achieve in a lifetime.
The journey to the top for him obviously began at the bottom. He first started hawking milk at night in Mombasa on a bicycle as he revealed in an interview with the Nairobian.
Later, he rose to become the regional sales manager for a Kilifi plantation. At this position, he demonstrated his terrific ability to drive sales through increasing the profitability of the company and conquering 80% of the milk market in the Coastal region. He also pushed the introduction of Tuzo milk to the people of the Coastal region, making the company the largest milk distributor in the region.
As one to take advantage of openings, he saw an opportunity to do something different and ventured into the transport sector. He registered the company under the name Buzeki Limited and this was how his transportation business began. The company has bagged contracts with some of the big names like, UN-WFP and Bamburi Cement.
In 2008, he started a milk processing and packaging company known as Buzeki Dairy Limited and got his first plant in Kilifi county. The plant had the capacity of about 25,000 litres daily.
In 2010, he opened another plant in Molo and named it Molo milk. The plant had the capacity to produce 250,000 litres of milk in a day. The Molo Milk brand grew to become a leading milk processor until it was acquired by Brookside Dairy Limited. He felt it was the right time to sell it and he went ahead to do it.
In the 2017 general elections, he vied for the Uasin Gishu county gubernatorial seat, making him a tough opponent for the then governor of the area Jackson Mandago, who was fighting to retain his seat. Buzeki came in second.
Debts
The business mogul cum politician owes NCBA kes2.7billlion, money he borrowed from the country’s third largest lender to purchase his 289 trucks and 141 trailers.
Landmark Port Conveyors was also in the process of auctioning 53 trucks owned by Buzeki’s haulage company to recover their debts.
According to businessdailyafrica, Landmark was allowed to auction the trucks in a bid to recover kes118 million owed to them by Buzeki after he failed to honor a debt repayment signed in November 2018.
Buzeki debts
| Company | Debt |
| Landmark | Sh118Mn |
| NCBA | Sh2.7bn |
Controversy
During his campaign for the seat, a lot of distasteful rumors about him began to spread. He was accused of being a wild youth who took drugs, being expelled from Mang’u and conning a 70-year-old widow of kes200 million. The then political aspirant rubbished the rumors saying people were just trying to tarnish his name and the woman in question was lying and owed him a huge sum of money.
“ For instance, I was never expelled from Mangu School and I have never done drugs in my life. People are making up stories, they want to taint my image because my opponents know I am a very strong candidate,” he was quoted by The Standard.
He went ahead to ask where those people claiming some of these things were and why they can’t say it to his face.
Chopper
The billionaire is known to have a soft side for the youths. He owns a chopper and has seen in the photo above, he seems comfortable to share his largesse. Buzeki gave this school girl a treat of her life while encouraging the youths of this country to value education and technical skills. He wrote on his social media pages:
“Education is an equaliser. I met this young girl and I strongly believe that with determination and commitment the future of our youth is bright……”
“We need to blend our academic skills with technical and entrepreneurial skills so that we widen our success opportunities. We should not rely on one path to success. This world is full of infinite possibilities,” he shared.
