Nashon Okowa is direct and focused. He takes no prisoners. At barely 36, the outspoken Project Manager has become a leading voice in the construction industry, sometimes coming out as abrasive and controversial. He has no apologies to make.
“Look, there’s no substitute for honesty and integrity”, says the author of Don’t Buy That House, a handbook that examines the pitfalls faced by home buyers who fail to undertake due diligence before committing their hard-earned money in off-plan homes.
In an industry choking with maladies in the form of work shortcuts, abdication of responsibility and even outright dishonesty, Okowa appears to be fighting a lone battle where even regulatory bodies and associations with bigger muscle have not had much success. But he is undeterred.
“I am cognizant of the fact that I won’t be here forever”, he says. “But I want to leave a mark so that people know someone tried to change things in this industry.”
As a director at Beacon Africa Consultants, a Construction Management firm, and the immediate former chairman of the Association of Construction Managers of Kenya (ACMK), Okowa is probably well positioned to champion integrity not only in his profession of Project Management but also the larger construction industry where his profession is domiciled.
So, who is Nashon Okowa?
“I was born and brought up in Muhoroni in Kisumu County; I’m the third born in a family of six – four boys and two girls,” he tells Construction Kenya Showcase. “I had a strict upbringing and my parents were both teachers although my father became a politician at some point.”
His parents wanted him to be a lawyer, However, he lost his father before joining university and so it was his mother who was behind the push to get her son into the legal practice. Okowa managed to get grades for admission to the Law course at the University of Nairobi. However, he felt that since he was right on the cut-off points, chances of being selected were low due to competition for admission into the coveted program. “I could have joined Moi University for Law but I wanted to study in Nairobi as Eldoret was too close to home”, he reveals.
“So, when the window to revise university choices opened, I changed my selection from Law to Construction Management.” His mother was unaware of this development.
Interestingly, Okowa had little clue as to what the course entailed. Nobody in his family was in the construction industry, so he would be plunging into the unknown. “I knew construction, but it was the management part that attracted me”, he says. And so, the young man enrolled at the University of Nairobi for a degree in Construction Management in 2007, becoming part of the very first students to graduate in the then new course. But there was a problem. “If I had known what this course entailed before enrolling, I would not have taken it and would not be a project manager today!” he says of the drawing skills requirement of the Construction Management program, adding that this is the same reason he despised Geography. But looking back, Okowa now admits that if he was asked what course to choose today, he’d choose the same course without hesitation. In fact by Third Year, he wanted to be a project manager and nothing else.
At the University, Okowa became the Construction Management student representative to the students professional body and was later elected as President of the Construction and Real Estate Students Association. He graduated in 2011. Unlike many graduates who immediately find themselves constantly doing what is colloquially known as “tarmacking”, Okowa had two job offers in quick succession. He attributes this fortune to his student leadership stint and interaction with the industry while at the University.
“My first job was with a contractor”, he says. “I lasted one month. But you’ll never see that in my CV”, he chuckles. Okowa did not want to work with a contractor. “I wanted to be a professional. I wanted to be in the office, I wanted to put on suits.” But the need to have a source of income to pay his bills forced him to accept this first job. While still working for the contractor, Okowa applied for project management jobs and was fortunate to be accepted by Trident Estates Limited. “So, at the end of that first month, I left and took the new job.”
It was here that he cut his teeth in project management. He worked in numerous projects in Kenya and around East Africa, rising to the position of Senior Project Manager. He would stay at Trident until 2017 when he left to manage his own firm, Beacon Africa Consultants. He had already registered the firm and had even secured some jobs while still at Trident.
One person who was not impressed by the decision to quit employment was his mother. “By the time I was leaving Trident, I already had a family, with one daughter”, says the father of two girls. His mother wondered how he could take the risk to resign at that delicate stage. But Okowa was not looking back. “It’s the risk-takers who succeed in life”, he says.
What Drives Okowa?
“This is our country, this is our profession, if I don’t do these things, who will?” poses Okowa. “If my daughter is going to be in the construction industry, and I know she will, I want to hand over an industry that is better; an industry that has integrity, because that is lacking in this sector.” It is these things that give him sleepless nights, he says.
In 2014, Okowa was at the forefront of efforts to form an association of construction managers. “When we came out of university, there was no such association. We had associations for architects, engineers, quantity surveyors but none for our profession.” He says as part of his efforts to make the industry better, he teamed up with like-minded professionals to form the Association of Construction Managers of Kenya. He was its second Chairman. “As I took up the position, I vowed to make it very hard for the person who would come after me”, say Okowa. “I wanted to perform”. He assumed leadership with a membership of 71 and by the time he stepped down recently, the association had about 842 members.
He outlines several achievements during his tenure, noting that he came in at a time when few people knew ACMK. “Now, everybody knows the association. There’s hardly any table in the industry where we don’t sit at.” He says the ACMK has done immense work to educate the public on the need for project managers. In addition, ACMK has engaged with students at the various universities offering Construction Management, offering training and career guidance among others. “We constantly engage the lecturers, appraising them of current trends in Construction Management.”
Okowa also cites legislative achievements. As an association, they contributed to drafting a bill that was intended to regulate the sector with clear guidance on who could be allowed to practice as a Project or Construction Manager. Unfortunately, the bill, pushed with the help of Nominated Senator Sylvia Kasanga who is an architect, did not manage to go through the Senate process before the General Election.
On the widely known but hardly-talked-about unease between Architects and Project Managers, Okowa brushes this off as a problem of people who are averse to change and efficiency. “We are in country where 87 percent of projects delay”, he says. “No developer borrows money to have their project delayed. Admittedly, it is not easy to finish a project on time. But if we want to develop, if we want to change this country, we must finish projects on time and within budget. This is what we are after. The people that are complaining (about project managers) are used to that delay.” He says some architects do not take the pressure from project managers well. “Yet, we only have 365 days in a year. If we lose a day or two, the contractor has to recover or will claim. That is the fight and it’s a good fight for our industry.” Okowa however notes that some of the conflicts are largely driven by ego. Some architects could also be hesitant to accept professional project managers, having acted in that capacity themselves, he says. “In countries ahead of us such as South Africa and the UK, we have professional project managers whose sole concern is how the project is executed.”
Don’t Buy That House
Don’t Buy That House, Okowa’s book that literally hit the market earlier in the year, is by far the most damning indictment of the state of affairs when it comes to home ownership in Kenya, particularly through the off-plan model. In this book, Okowa dishes out blunt advice to prospective home buyers, challenging them to do adequate due diligence before committing their money into the purchase of homes. It is a book that would shock people who have already bought houses but are experiencing problems midway.
Okowa spares no one. Not the homeowners, not the developer, contractor or even fellow consultants. To start with, the author states that the bedrock of any successful real estate company” has to be a pristine name built on impeccable brand ethics. The first stop before deciding to buy a house off-plan has to be at the history of the developer.”
He goes on to caution that people have lost money to non-existent companies, some of which are not even registered. “I know it seems obvious that a company carrying out development projects in the country would undoubtedly be registered, but hear me out…this industry is full of laughable stories reminiscent of fiction movies but they are painfully real stories.”
Okowa urges buyers to check every detail. “Tick every box”, he repeatedly implores customers to save them from regret later. He cites numerous cases of stalled projects, unplanned and illegal developments, projects executed by quacks, unfavourable buying terms and many other dangers that stare at the complacent home buyer.
He says failure to undertake due diligence has resulted in financial ruin for many buyers. He notes that some developers are crafty and capitalize on the ignorance of buyers for the sole purpose of committing them to the purchase. By the time they realize, they have lost their money or are under serious financial problems. Okowa urges buyers to interrogate every aspect of the project including project financing, qualifications of the project team, building approvals and a host of other criteria. If they are unsatisfied with any element, he advises them to walk on to another project. “It is surely not the law of God that you must live in perpetual misery.”
Granted, the extensive due diligence that Okowa recommends appears a gargantuan task for many. And he acknowledges this. But he is firm that this is not an excuse for not carrying out these background checks as some of them can easily be done online or tasked to a professional.
Asked if he gets anxious that developers may deny him jobs because of his hard-hitting book, Okowa is unapologetic. “I work for honest developers; so I don’t mind offending those who are dishonest.”
