Old is gold so they say. For one Lucas Chelelgo also known as Kabarnet’s Ring Master, making a living out of old valueless 10 cent coins never sounded realistic until he discovered the treasure that lies inside the obsolete coins.
Chelelgo, a current blacksmith at Kabarnet town in Baringo county has received tremendous commendations from a section of Kenyans after his story was aired on Citizen Tv on Sunday night.
According to the story, Chelelgo has been in the business of transforming the valueless 10 shilling coins into beautiful wedding rings.
Before venturing into the ring business, Chelelgo was a casual labourer in Naivasha where he worked in the mineral mines as well as construction sites.
It is at Naivasha where he discovered the value of the 10 cent shilling coin which was facing out from the making before he shifted to Kabarnet to start his own garage. He says that his customers come from all over the country with a good number of them coming from Eldoret and Nairobi.
#BaringoRingMaster: 53-year-old Lucas Chelelgo sees the value in the 10 cent and 50 cent coins. For 17 years, he has been converting the base coins into wedding rings.
Posted by Citizen TV Kenya on Sunday, 25 August 2019
According to him, his rings have found favour among many of his customers since it is original in value as compared to the usual shop rings that usually wear out and fade with time.
He first valued each ring at sh 5,000 but with his business growing, he now sells each ring at the cost of one thousand Kenyan shillings.
His feature news report went viral with many Kenyans congratulating the self-made entrepreneur for his marvelous work.
Despite reports that the man could face legal action for tampering with Kenya’s legal tender, many argued that the coin was no longer in use and has already been declared valueless by the central bank of Kenya. Here are some comments from Facebook and Twitter;
Great innovation. He needs some support to modernize his tools and branding. Government needs to recognize and support such initiatives.
— JOHN MARITIM (@MARITIMJOHN) August 25, 2019
Hello how can I get his contact
— Pastor Jasper (@pastor_jasper) August 25, 2019
Douglas Omurwa So inspiring but I pity those fingers, I wonder how many times you have hit yourself with the hummer. 🤔🤔🤔
Okari De Rose I would like to boost him with some small capital to buy tools for his work… Any direct number please..
That Guy Has Hands Of Gold #sundaylive @KoinangeJeff @VickyRubadiri @citizentvkenya
— TeamLostKe™ (@teamlostke) August 25, 2019
Francis Technocraft Alfresh Bora akina Matiangi wasikaribie biashara ya ndugu yetu hapo na hizo uduma namba na census zao
Ahmed Yusuf Ali Congrats Luka for having such a skill. Let the youth see this and identify what they can do. It was inspiring.
In October 2019,the old Ksh.1000 notes will cease to be legal tender.I hope you understood clearly that 10 cent coins were phased out,and have no buying power.All coins he gets were rejected even by banks and he simply transmutes them.
— Dorcas O! Wangira (@DeWangira) August 25, 2019
Guys if you don't want him to vandalize the coin then give him a job to do simple
— Tony Koskei (@KoskeiTony) August 26, 2019