There is more to Arnold Afuya than just “Hallo! Hapo ni Safaricom?”
It
is said that an idle mind is the devil’s workshop and perhaps it could
be the reason why the devil gets all the blame after someone has done
something regrettable.
For
Arnold Afuya Mukabi though, the case is very different.
The
born-again Christian seems to be at his creative best when idleness and
boredom creeps in and the result of him being bored recently saw him
become the talk of town.
If you do not know who Arnold Afuya
Mukabi is yet, perhaps you have not heard the audio clip of a man who
called Safaricom Customer Care just to greet them and appeal to them not
to put subscribers on hold when they try to reach them.
In
an exclusive interview with radiojambo.co.ke, the 20-year-old revealed
that he called Safaricom and recorded the clip because he was bored and
feeling low.
He never thought that act of cheering himself up
would go viral on social media after he shared the clip with some of his
close friends.
“I remember that day very well,” Afuya starts
narrating of the cheeky incident, “I was feeling so bored and very low
and to cheer myself, I decided to call Safaricom Customer Care and just
tell them any crazy thing which will come to my mind. They put me on
hold for four minutes.”
“I love recording my phone calls and when I
listened to myself again after my call with the customer care agent
ended, I could not help laughing at myself.”
After doing such a
thing, one would think that advertising his craziness would be the last
thing that he would do but that did not cross his mind.
He shared
the audio clip with a friend of him named Kiptoo who was equally
entertained by it and after getting positive feedback from him, he
broadcasted it to a larger audience, a WhatsApp group, and then went to
sleep.
In an ironic twist of fate, Afuya got a taste of what
customer care agents go through the following day when he received so
many calls and SMSes from his friends after the prank call to Safaricom
Customer Care went viral.
“My phone went wild. My pastor even called and told me that he had never laughed that at,” Afuya said.
Surprisingly though, his mother has not heard the clip yet and Afuya revealed it is because she does not own a smartphone.
“I
hope she will hear it being played on radio soon. I pray that God
blesses those who played the clip on radio including Gidi and Ghost
because it made really happy and proud.”
Born
in Kitale on October 24 1995, Arnold Afuya is a staunch and born-again
Christian. Despite enduring many hardships in life, he has always had
unwavering trust and faith in God.
In the clip,
Afuya could be heard telling the Customer Care agent that he would visit
Safaricom offices that Friday to lodge an official complaint on being
put an hold for so long. Despite not fulfilling that promise because he
lacked bus fare, Afuya said that he has not written off that plan.
He however has kind words for the agent who picked his call and praised her patience.
“I
admire how the lady handled the situation. Even though I was saying
silly things and repeating myself, she was very patient and maintained a
serious and professional tone. Simply said she knows her work well and
if I were to meet her, I would ask her why she did not ask me if I had a
query on any Safaricom service such as M-Pesa and the likes,” Afuya
said about the agent.
One may wonder if Safaricom contacted him
over the call or if at all he has got any job opportunities as a result
of it, but none of that has happened yet.
However Afuya is hopeful
that the call will open new doors for him which will enable him raise
money to take himself to college and study journalism.
Despite
lacking means, Afuya, as you will find out, compensates for that by
being prayerful, hardworking and possessing an impressive ability in
taking initiative.
He hails from Kitale and he is the first-born
in a family of three children. His mother is a housewife and his father
is a nightguard at club in Kitale.
“I am a born-again Christian
and even though I have endured a lot of hardships in my life, I do not
want that to hinder me from successful and hence an inspiration to
others,” Afuya says as he starts narrating about his life.
Arnold Afuya loves sharing inspirational posts on his social media pages page.
“In
Kitale, my family lived in the slums and it was by God’s grace that I
completed Primary School and High School. I did KCSE in 2013 but because
my parents could not take me to college, I became a hawker before
finding work at cyber cafe,” he continues.
“Even though I have
never been to a computer college, I am very good in IT and my
willingness to learn has seen me learn how to drive a car without having
to go to driving school,” he added.
Religion plays a huge role in
Afuya’s life and because of his involvement in church activities, he
has been able to venture into the media industry and work his way up to
get a job as a radio presenter for Nyce FM.
“I love radio. In
December 2014, I tried my luck at a radio station, Imani Radio, in
Kitale after being connected by a churchmate. I used to host a gospel
show and people started knowing me in Kitale as a result. People loved
my show because other then knowing the Gospel, I also have good jokes.
Working there was a challenge though, because I was not getting paid but
I can not complain since I got some experience and exposure.”
His stint at Imani Radio created a path for him to join an online radio station based in Nairobi known as
Nyce FM. At Nyce FM, Afuya hosts a gospel show known as
The Dawn Devotion. It airs from 4am – 7am during weekdays and from 7am – 10am on Sundays.
Arnold Afuya at Nyce FM.
“I
joined Nyce FM in January this year after they liked demos which I had
sent them. In January I was not paid because I was on probation. My
hardwork paid off though and from this month I will be getting paid
after signing a contract,” Afuya said about working for Nyce FM.
He is glad that he has got a paying job and therefore life in Nairobi will be more bearable for him. He stays in Umoja.
“At
least now life will be more bearable because I will be working and
earning. Before that, life was a bit hard and there are days I would go
without eating. I am happy that my girlfriend has been loving and
understanding and I can not thank her enough for the support she has
given me all along,” he said.
“I am more motivated to work even
harder so that I can help my family at home. Like me, my siblings are
struggling to get through school and I want to make life better for
them,” he added.
One would be forgiven to believe that Afuya is an
ardent football fan on learning that he was born exactly 10 years after
Manchester United and England captain Wayne Rooney but that is not the
case.
Outside work, he loves listening to gospel music and running his
Youtube channel where he shares most of his works.
“I
used to follow Manchester United but I stopped when Cristiano Ronaldo
left for Real Madrid. Nowadays, I only follow AFC Leopards and catch up
on latest trends in the gospel music industry when I am not at work. I
also like surfing the internet to research on content for my show as
well as watch episodes of comedy shows which I have missed.”
Although
life has been hell for him, as he puts it, one can not help but admire
his spirit in creating a little heaven for himself and those close and
dear to him.
“People who see my social media pages may think I am
better off because I dress well and share bible verses and inspirational
posts. Unknown to them though, I persevere a lot so that I can inspire
others. I hope that God will remember me and family soon,” he says as a
parting shot
