Painters play an important role in the construction industry. For this
reason, Crown Paints has been conducting training programmes for
professional painters. This initiative has received the support of the
Kenya Industrial Estates who will equip painters with entrepreneurial
skills to successfully run their businesses.
The partnership between Crown and KIE recognizes that it is not
enough to equip painters with technical skills to carry out their trade
but also hone their business acumen. “This will help them not only
become better painters but also establish viable businesses,” says
Crown Paints CEO Rakesh Rao.
KIE Managing Director Julius Mokogi noted that equipping
painters with business development skills will empower them to
compete for bigger contracts. “Capacity building is essential to
enhancing competitiveness. Through the partnership with Crown,
we will provide entrepreneurial capacity building, mentoring and
consultancy services as well as marketing skills to local painters,”
said Mokogi.
Many small and medium businesses in Kenya are faced with
challenges arising out of lack of technical skills or capacity to
effectively market their products and services and establish sound
business processes. The partnership with KIE therefore takes
Crown’s ongoing training programme to another level.
Over 6,000 painters benefited from the training programme last
year. The number will rise to 10,000 this year as the programme is
launched in more counties. Poor women in places like Kibera and
Mathare have also benefited from training by Crown and this will help
them improve their livelihood.
Crown partners with
KIE to hone painters’
skills
December 2013
12
Edna Inzayi prepares a wall for a fresh coat of
paint at the Crown Paints Mathare Training
Session at Mcedo Beijing School.
Sarah Anne Wamuyu, a mother of two,
lives in Kibera and she loves working as a
painter. Wamuyu, who relocated to Kibera
from her rural home in Kiambu in 2006,
is the breadwinner of a young family. Her
dalliance with painting began by chance
after a long, desperate search for work.
She and a friend approached a foreman at
a building site located not too far from their
homes. The opportunity she got that day
began her exciting journey in the world of
construction.
Presently, Wamuyu is one of a growing
number of trained women painters who
have benefited from an initiative launched
by Crown Paints over ten years ago. She is
certified to work in construction sites. But
working in what is essentially considered
a male-dominated industry has not been
easy.
“Convincing especially male clients that we
can get the job done is not that simple. It
takes sheer determination and persistent
focus on quality to succeed,” says Wamuyu.
Equipped with the right skills, however,
Wamuyu and a few other women have
ventured into the painting industry, in the
process debunking the perception that
painting is a male-only affair.
The painters training program sponsored by
Crown Paints provides women like Wamuyu
with the skills and savvy required to excel in
this business.
In February this year, Crown Paints hosted a
training workshop in Mathare.
The chief trainer was Holland-based Philip
Lee, CEO of the English Painting Company.
Lee proudly notes the painters training
workshop in Mathare held at Mcedo Beijing
School in February had the largest number
of women trainees participating. Six women
participated in the workshop.
One of those who took part was Edna
Inzayi. She was on her third day on the job
as a painter, taking part in refurbishing
one of the classrooms at the school. In her
view, painting should always have been a
woman’s vocation. “After all,” she says, “no
Women shatter social
barriers to excel in
painting
