A Nairobi businesswoman’s life changed for the worse after a short streak of luck in betting led to big losses.
Mirriam Waithira, a mother and former hotel owner, went bankrupt days after winning Ksh 264,000 online.
Waithira ran a successful hotel in Uthiru, Nairobi, to support her child.
She started betting with Ksh 2,000 and was shocked by a big win.
Excited, she withdrew the money and even sent some to her parents, thinking she had found an easy way to make money.
But her luck didn’t last. Waithira continued betting, hoping for another win, but lost everything in just three days.
Desperate, she asked her parents to sell a cow she had gifted them, lying that she needed the money urgently.
As her debts grew, Waithira’s hotel business collapsed.
Unable to manage her losses, she closed the hotel and moved back to her rural home in Kinangop.
But even there, her addiction continued, making her situation worse.
Her wake-up call came when she got into legal trouble. Seeing how betting had hurt her life, she chose to stop.
Now back in Nairobi, Waithira is trying to rebuild her life and is looking for a job to start over.
She has also apologised to her family for the struggles they faced because of her mistakes.
