This archive report was first published on 17 July 2019.
On July 17, 2019, Nyaribari Chache MP Richard Nyagaka Tongi returned to India to repay a Sh300 loan he had accumulated 23 years ago while studying in India.
Tongi, who was a management student at Maulana Azad College in India in the 1980s, had frequented a grocery store near his residence and formed close ties with the vendor, Kashinath Gawli.
Gawli, who owned a grocery store in the Wankhedenagar area of Aurangabad, Maharashtra State, would supply Tongi with food every day and sometimes on credit.
When Tongi completed his studies, he returned to Kenya with an outstanding debt of Indian Rupee 200 (Sh300).
"I had a debt from 23 years ago that I had not paid, they (Gawlis) had given me food, but I had not paid. So when I got married, I vowed to return to India and payback. Now, my heart is at peace," Tongi said.
Accompanied by his wife Michelle, Tongi visited Aurangabad and described the journey as emotional.
He expressed his gratitude to the Gawli family, saying, "These people (Gawlis) helped me. Then I thought that someday, I will come back and repay. I want to say thank you. This is so emotional for me,"
Before leaving Aurangabad, Tongi extended an invitation to the Gawlis to visit Kenya.
