Former street boy finds hope in textile business

Raised by a peasant single mother in Ngora District, George Okoit did not get the chance to enjoy his childhood.

Scoring 14 aggregates in Primary Leaving Examinations in 2004 from Ngora Boys Primary School did not guarantee him a better education.

Okoit was admitted to Ngora High School on half bursary offered by whites who admired his fine art skills during a visit to the area.

However, his mother could not pay the remaining fees, so he had to drop out after just one term.

He opted for Halcyon High School in Soroti but here still, his mother, then a support staff at Bishop Kitching College (BKC) in Ngora, couldn’t raise the money.

He says he returned home and made up his mind to try life on the streets.

 “I walked out of the BKC premises where we were staying after I told my mother I will only return home when I have something to offer to you,” the 33-year-old recollects.

In late 2005, Okoit said he walked the streets of Soroti Town, now a city, as he searched for employment.

“I walked into someone’s wholesale shop, who I would later learn was Elayu, to ask for work. He gave me salt to hawk,” Okoit remembers.

Life struggles

“Despite doing all the petty jobs on the streets, I was blessed with a talent in fine art but I didn’t exploit my talent on the streets as it was a new chapter in my life,” he adds.

Okoit says for every carton of salt that he sold, he got a profit of Shs600.

He says from the little savings, he managed to start a chapatti business and rent a wattle room.

However, Okoit says the chapatti business soon collapsed.

Okoit says he did not give up and started again running errands in Soroti streets, and in some instances, washing plates in restaurants in exchange for a day’s meal. “Despite being a street boy, I still wanted to be in school; I got an admission at Light SS for Senior Three in 2007 though I didn’t study for Senior Two,” he says.

“In 2008 I sat S.4 Uneb exams and managed to score 51 aggregates,” he adds

After Senior Four in 2008, Okoit says he chose to learn computer graphics.

“After mastering Photoshop, there came a white man named Chris Fisher who wanted to work with a street child and that was the start of my opening,” he says.

He says the white man opened for them an office space on Central Avenue but the work environment was toxic as people competed for favours from the white man.

Okoit adds that he relocated to Katakwi Town in 2010 and started making rubber stamps.

He adds that the decision ended up being so pivotal that in 2015 he was able to get admitted for a certificate in business administration at Uganda College of Commerce in Soroti.

Okoit says at the same time the youth elections for Soroti Municipal Council were heating up and he contested as a councillor, defeating both NRM and FDC candidates.

“As a municipal councillor, I approached Centenary Bank who gave me a loan of Shs5m. With that money, I started a small graphic kiosk,” he adds.

By 2019, with the rubber stamps getting phased out, he started making self -inking stamps and by 2020, Okoit says he had managed to sell more than 3,000 stamps, earning about Shs90m.

In the 2021 elections, he sought re-election as councillor for Soroti West Division but lost despite spending a lot of his money.

With his business at the verge of collapse, he says one of the politicians who had also lost an MP seat, connected him to some friends who loaned him Shs36m.

Machinery

Okoit says he decided to buy an embroidery machine at Shs27m, three electric sewing machines and other graphic materials to expand his business.

 “After expanding I stayed for seven months without business but my first business was of Shs8.5m,” he recalls.

He says at the close of 2021, he managed to make a profit of Shs21m, which rose to Shs23m in 2023.

Okoit says last year, MTN Uganda supported his business with equipment worth Shs20m, which propelled his capital base to Shs100m.

He says at Teso textiles, they do industrial embroidery, tailoring, sweater knitting, screen printing, sign posts and graphic design, among others.

This year again , Okoit says Teso textiles is among the 64 small scale businesses across the country, which have been listed to benefit from the youth innovative fund of Shs74m each from National Social Security Fund (NSSF). “With that support my dream of venturing into a large value chain of cotton business will slowly become a reality,” he says.

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