14/09/2026
DEBTS ALMOST KILLED ME, HOW I RECOVERED FROM DEBTS
“BLESSINGS, I DON'T KNOW HOW MUCH LONGER I CAN KEEP DOING THIS.”
Those were the first words Mr Chama said when he came to see me.
Mr Chama is a nurse.
From the outside, he looked fine.
He was working.
He was married.
He had a child.
He was a businessman.
He dressed well and carried himself with confidence.
But behind that smile was a man drowning in debt.
I asked him:
“Chama, what happened?”
He took a deep breath.
“It started with my first loan.”
THE FIRST LOAN
Two years after employment, Mr Chama got his first loan from Xtenda.
At that time, getting a loan felt like an opportunity.
He had a salary.
He had plans.
He had ambition.
And then came the big decision.
He borrowed K70,000 to start a boutique business.
He believed the business would generate enough money to pay the loan and leave him with a profit.
But there was one problem.
He had never run a business before.
He employed a worker.
Because he was new to business, he didn't put proper systems in place.
No proper stock-control system.
No daily reconciliation.
No serious accountability.
No proper separation between business money and personal money.
Eventually, he discovered that the worker had been stealing from the business.
He fired him.
But the damage had already been done.
Then he made another mistake.
He trusted a relative with the business.
The business continued going down.
Sales were falling.
Expenses continued.
The loan repayment didn't stop.
But Mr Chama refused to accept that the business was failing.
Instead of stopping to analyse the situation, he borrowed again.
THEN CAME ZAMLOAN.
He took another loan from Zamloan, hoping to rescue the business.
But debt cannot always rescue a business that has a broken foundation.
Sometimes, debt only gives a dying business a little more time to die.
Things still weren't working.
Then he saw another opportunity.
Poultry.
“Maybe this business will save me,” he thought.
So he took another loan from Unifi.
Another loan.
Another repayment.
Another monthly obligation.
Another reason to hope.
But this time, something frightening happened.
HIS PAYSLIP STARTED DISAPPEARING.
After deductions, Mr Chama's payslip was left with approximately K3,000.
But he still had to pay K4,000 to Unifi, because that particular repayment was not being deducted directly from his payslip.
Read that again.
He was earning a salary from which only K3,000 remained, while one loan alone required K4,000.
And he still had:
A wife.
A child.
Food.
Rent.
Transport.
Bills.
Family responsibilities.
And a business that was struggling.
The mathematics simply didn't work.
But life doesn't stop because your mathematics doesn't work.
The child still needs food.
The family still needs support.
The landlord still wants rent.
The lender still wants payment.
And Mr Chama still had to report for duty.
BUT HERE IS WHAT PEOPLE DIDN'T SEE.
Every morning he went to work.
He smiled.
He attended to patients.
He talked about business.
He looked like a man with a plan.
But inside?
He was exhausted.
He wasn't just fighting a financial problem.
He was fighting fear.
Fear of losing everything.
Fear of disappointing his family.
Fear of what people would say.
Fear of seeing his payslip and knowing that the money was already gone before it entered his hands.
And eventually, he came to me.
He told me everything.
I looked at him and said:
“Chama, your biggest problem is no longer the business. Your biggest problem is the debt cycle.”
We had to stop looking for another loan.
THE RECOVERY STARTED WITH ONE DECISION:
NO MORE BORROWING TO COVER BORROWING.
We sat down and wrote everything.
Every loan.
Every balance.
Every monthly payment.
Every household expense.
Every business expense.
Every source of income.
For the first time, he could actually see the size of the problem.
And sometimes, you cannot solve what you refuse to measure.
We then separated his personal finances from his business finances.
We looked at which business was actually making money and which one was consuming money.
We stopped the idea of starting another business just because the current one was struggling.
We discussed selling non-essential assets where appropriate, cutting unnecessary expenses, negotiating repayment arrangements with creditors where possible, and directing every available extra amount toward the most urgent/high-cost debt.
Most importantly:
HE STOPPED TAKING NEW LOANS.
It wasn't easy.
There were months when the money was extremely tight.
There were sacrifices.
There were things he wanted but couldn't afford.
There were uncomfortable conversations with his family.
But slowly, the debt began to come down.
One loan.
Then another.
Then another.
And eventually, Mr Chama started breathing again.
WHAT DID MR CHAMA LEARN?
1. A LOAN IS NOT CAPITAL JUST BECAUSE SOMEONE GIVES YOU MONEY.
Borrowed money comes with a repayment obligation.
Before taking it, ask:
“If this investment fails, how will I repay this loan?”
If you don't have an answer, you may not be ready to borrow.
2. DON'T BORROW MONEY TO START A BUSINESS JUST BECAUSE YOU HAVE AN IDEA.
A business idea is not the same as a tested business model.
Where possible, start small.
Test the market.
Learn the business.
Understand your customers.
Know your costs.
Know your profit margins.
Then grow.
3. DEBT IS BETTER USED TO BOOST A BUSINESS THAT IS ALREADY WORKING.
If a business is already generating consistent sales and you understand its numbers, financing can sometimes help you expand stock, equipment or capacity.
But borrowing K70,000 to discover whether you can actually run a business?
That can be extremely dangerous.
4. NEVER RUN A BUSINESS WITHOUT SYSTEMS.
Trust is good.
Systems are better.
Track stock.
Record every sale.
Reconcile cash.
Separate business money from personal money.
Know your daily sales.
Know your expenses.
Know your profit.
Don't give someone complete control over your money simply because they are a relative.
5. NEVER USE A NEW LOAN TO HIDE AN OLD PROBLEM.
This is where many people get trapped.
Loan → another loan → another loan → refinancing → another loan.
Eventually, the salary is working for the lenders instead of the family.
6. KNOW YOUR DEBT-TO-INCOME POSITION BEFORE BORROWING.
Don't look only at:
“How much can I qualify for?”
Ask:
“How much can I comfortably repay while still feeding my family, paying rent and meeting my other obligations?”
The amount a lender is willing to give you is not necessarily the amount you can afford.
7. DON'T CONFUSE LOOKING RICH WITH BEING FINANCIALLY HEALTHY.
Mr Chama looked fine.
But his finances were bleeding.
A nice phone doesn't mean you're financially okay.
A nice car doesn't mean you're financially okay.
A successful-looking business doesn't mean you're financially okay.
Your financial health is determined by your cash flow, assets, liabilities, savings and ability to meet your obligations—not by appearances.
Today, Mr Chama understands something he didn't understand when he took that first K70,000:
A loan can either become a tool or a trap.
The difference is often in the purpose, the numbers, the systems and your ability to repay.
And if you are already drowning in debt, don't take another loan simply because you are desperate.
STOP.
Write down every debt.
Know exactly what you owe.
Stop unnecessary borrowing.
Cut non-essential expenses.
Protect your basic needs.
Increase your income where realistically possible.
Direct extra money toward debt repayment.
Talk to your lenders early if you are struggling.
And seek professional financial guidance when the situation is beyond what you can manage alone.
Most importantly, don't be ashamed to admit that you have a debt problem.
Debt is a financial problem.
It does not have to become your identity.
Mr Chama thought debt was going to destroy him.
But his recovery began the day he stopped pretending everything was okay.
Sometimes the first step to financial freedom is admitting: “I need help.”
Have you ever taken a loan that you later regretted?
What did you learn from that experience?
Let's talk in the comments. Someone may learn from your story and avoid making the same mistake.
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