Mombasa billionaire businessman Suleiman Shahbal explained his decision to show kindness towards a prefect who humiliated him in school.
In an update on his social media page, he noted that he grew up in a humble background and he was not ale to buy a full school uniform by the time he was joining high school.
As such, Shahbal stated that he was forced to improvise a blazer after failing to purchase a new school jacket.
“I, therefore, got a second-hand blazer from my fellow student, put a new badge and yellow hand stripes on it,” he recalled.
The businessman went ahead to explain how the prefect humiliated him in-front of his fellow students the following day.
“The next day, I put on my self-made school jacket and stood at the parade where I was approached by a prefect. He called out my name and started making fun of me,” Shahbal said.
Fortunate for Shahbal, he managed to study through high school and later worked in different parts of the world including Yemen and the Gulf countries.
The businessman later met the prefect while looking for a job and he was kind enough to give him one.
“Fast forward, 30 years later, that same prefect came to me asking for a job, and I gave him one. Moral of the story? It is not important where you come from, it is where you are going,” he added.
Shahbal is a gallant tycoon who has surmounted numerous hurdles ranging from unemployment to being declared bankrupt and then bouncing back to the tip of the pyramid.
He was brought up in Majengo Chura in Mombasa and went to Kikowani Primary School. He joined Nairobi School through a sponsorship.
After completing his studies at Nairobi School, Suleiman was faced with a professional ambivalence of either studying law at UoN or pursuing business in US. He chose the latter and majored in finance.
After completing his studies abroad, the politician jetted back to Kenya but struggled to find an employment opportunity.
He was forced to travel to Dubai, spending more money in an attempt to clutch a life changing job.
It wasn’t an easy ride though he finally managed to secure an appointment letter just as he was almost running broke.
He was employed at the prestigious City Bank, where his career took a dramatic rise.
According to him, all the finest things of life were soon at his disposal; the young man from Majengo Chura was traveling via first class air tickets, hanging out in 5 star hotels and even his house furniture would be changed every 3 years.
However, Shahbal’s life took a new twist when he resigned in order to come back in Kenya to start a new venture.
The entrepreneur started an oil company in mid 1990’s which faded to whimpers within only 4 years. As a result, he was declared bankrupt.
Lucky enough, he secured employment at a bank in Oman as head of international operations.
Suleiman then set up an investment company in Dubai which accumulated him wealth estimated to be worth billions of shillings.
