Author: Lilian Muriithi-Ollows
Publisher: CLC Christian BookLink Ltd.
Reviewer: Odhiambo Orlale
Photographer: Odhiambo Orlale
There are so many popular local and foreign books on personal finance that have been written while others are still with the publishers waiting to be bought and read. One Day in August – A Chat on Personal Finances, is a must read to help one understand and maneuver through the labyrinth of life where the word debt is at the tip of everyone’s mind.
According to Cabinet Secretary for National Treasury, Ukur Yatani, Kenya’s external debt accumulated to more than Kshs3.8 trillion, approximately $35.6 billion as of January 2021. The value was equivalent to 52 percent of the country’s total debt. At the grassroots, the ease of mobile banking and loans has made even more Kenyans indebted more than ever in the country’s history. The latest data shows that there are 120 digital lending platforms that are owed over two billion Kenyan shillings by the public every month.
It is now normal to receive unsolicited phone calls, SMS and email requests from banks, even where you are not a member, offering you loans. In her book, author, Dr Lilian Muriithi-Ollows says: “I believe that anyone can turn around their money situation if they have the will to. It is never too late. The information in this 52-page booklet, is tried and tested and can be applied by anyone.”
Indeed, especially since the Coronavirus also known as Covid-19 came calling two years ago and turned the entire world upside down with loss of jobs, businesses, deaths, sicknesses and loss of livelihoods, this is may be the time to take stock and take a serious review of our personal finances as a way forward. We can get a tip from a Chinese proverb: “The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago, the next best time is now.”
In her easy-to read book, Muriithi-Ollows reveals that she is passionate about personal finances and is a living testimony of applying the principles and also enjoys helping people get around the money situation.
The author’s journey in finance began 27 years ago when she joined First American Bank, even before being admitted to University of Nairobi. Since then, she says, she has never looked back.
In the forward, Rev Munengi Mulandi, Deputy Senior Pastor Nairobi Baptist Church, had noted that he had known Dr Lilian Muriithi-Ollows in various capacities; as a family friend, as a banker at FABK, an academician, a mother and most recently as a banker.
Says Rev Mulandi: "She plays all these roles excellently, but nothing matches her passion to inspire. She is a forerunner in this book, she equips the reader with tools to repair their financial setbacks, to get back on the saddle and ride on their way to holistic success. Read this book – I have. Practice the principles – I have.”
The book is divided into three chapters focusing on Personal Finances and Personal Freedom; Planning; Debt; and Saving. In the preface, the author candidly asks a rhetorical question: “What prevented me from reaching my full potential?” she responds with one word: fear. Nothing else but fear with the following questions lingering in her mind: what is I am not good enough? What if I say the wrong thing and no one trusts me after that... because of that one single mistake? What if? Fear!
But that entire fear factor ended one August, which she has used as the title of her book, because of conversations she had on that day when she realized her inner potential to talk to people about money matters.
“I had always known that I wanted to speak to people about money; to share my knowledge and more importantly, my experiences,” says the author, “I wanted to lighten the concepts to them, to tell them that it is simple… you can manage. She vividly and proudly recalls the three conversations she had on that memorable day which propelled her to write this book. And with that new-found courage that she burst forth and put on paper her thoughts on this simple subject that is often shrouded in mystery and fear by most people, old, young or middle aged.
The author admits that she is still not out of the woods, like most of us; these are lessons she has learnt and is still learning as she manages her finances. “My aim is to present the concepts that I believe are necessary to get you on the road to financial freedom in the simplest way possible for maximum understanding by all who choose to read this book, so that when you pick it, it will be hard to put down until you finally have to because you have read the word ‘end.”
In her parting shot, the author reminds the reader that finances influence many if not on all aspects of our lives and we must therefore be courageous enough to climb above our finances, get from under our finances so to speak; much like getting from under a rock, climbing it and experiencing the glory.
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