In focus: Johnstone Oltetia, CEO & MD - Kenya Mortgage Refinance Company (KMRC).
Location: KMRC Headquarters, Nairobi (Kenya).
Photography: Marcus Olang' / Stills by Marcus.
Select stills from an Executive Portraiture session commissioned by KMRC.
"Go to your branch, ask them about the KMRC facility. Then you'll share with me about what they tell you."
I should get back to him so that we have another cup of tea.
"Do you live in your own home?" He asked me this earlier, in his own tone of reassuring curiosity, as we had tea before fully getting into the shoot.
I chuckle. "No, I rent. Loans and mortgages are way too expensive."
His passion was sparked. This is what kicked off our whole conversation.
"And making it easier means someone has to give people the runway they need to make their repayments, and that they can still repay at more affordable rates. So that's what we're here to do. This is our work, and my assignment is to find ways to bridge that gap."
"We have to make it easier for people to buy or build," says Johnstone. He's folding his sleeves, as though preparing to get into his day. Which, to be fair, he was. He had decided that our session would serve as the start to his day.
Us types tend to subsist on Fuliza / Mshwari, while relying heavily on our sacco account borrowing to build that place we want to call home. The banks will look at us and politely offer us a 25+% facility. Risk profile, they'll tell you.
There's a saying in Kiswahili: Akufukuzaye hakuambii 'Toka'.
But the "risky" profile isn't limited to consulting or freelancing types - it extends incredibly far and wide, from the newly-employed in one of those Westlands towers, to the mjengo person on site in Ahero, to the chapati meister in Malindi, to you reading this, if statistics are to be trusted.
You could say he was preaching, and you could also say that I was the choir.
See, lenders consider my type "risky": People that don't have the typical 9-to-5.
"Even when you watch TV, you'll see that most programmes on real estate are targeted at the upper market." We were talking about his work as we went about this portraiture session. "There's very little about middle- or low-income families. It's the same with loans, especially home loans."
Having a conversation with Johnstone Oltetia gives you the distinct impression of a person whose every waking moment revolves around solving one very specific puzzle - and no intention of letting it go.
In focus: Johnstone Oltetia, CEO & MD - Kenya Mortgage Refinance Company (KMRC).
Location: KMRC Headquarters, Nairobi (Kenya).
Photography: Marcus Olang' / Stills by Marcus.
Select stills from an Executive Portraiture session commissioned by KMRC.
"Go to your branch, ask them about the KMRC facility. Then you'll share with me about what they tell you."
I should get back to him so that we have another cup of tea.
"Do you live in your own home?" He asked me this earlier, in his own tone of reassuring curiosity, as we had tea before fully getting into the shoot.
I chuckle. "No, I rent. Loans and mortgages are way too expensive."
His passion was sparked. This is what kicked off our whole conversation.
"And making it easier means someone has to give people the runway they need to make their repayments, and that they can still repay at more affordable rates. So that's what we're here to do. This is our work, and my assignment is to find ways to bridge that gap."
"We have to make it easier for people to buy or build," says Johnstone. He's folding his sleeves, as though preparing to get into his day. Which, to be fair, he was. He had decided that our session would serve as the start to his day.
Us types tend to subsist on Fuliza / Mshwari, while relying heavily on our sacco account borrowing to build that place we want to call home. The banks will look at us and politely offer us a 25+% facility. Risk profile, they'll tell you.
There's a saying in Kiswahili: Akufukuzaye hakuambii 'Toka'.
But the "risky" profile isn't limited to consulting or freelancing types - it extends incredibly far and wide, from the newly-employed in one of those Westlands towers, to the mjengo person on site in Ahero, to the chapati meister in Malindi, to you reading this, if statistics are to be trusted.
You could say he was preaching, and you could also say that I was the choir.
See, lenders consider my type "risky": People that don't have the typical 9-to-5.
"Even when you watch TV, you'll see that most programmes on real estate are targeted at the upper market." We were talking about his work as we went about this portraiture session. "There's very little about middle- or low-income families. It's the same with loans, especially home loans."
Having a conversation with Johnstone Oltetia gives you the distinct impression of a person whose every waking moment revolves around solving one very specific puzzle - and no intention of letting it go.
I don't know who needs to hear this, but don't lie to your nurses and doctors. Even on that one thing you're embarrassed about. Your continued heartbeat may literally hinge upon that one thing you're withholding from them.
DON'T LIE TO YOUR MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS.
Grief has no manners. Whenever you start to think you're OK, at the very moment you close your eyes to take in a deep breath, it seizes the opportunity: appears out of nowhere, licks its right hand, pauses a bit, then lands the sloppiest slap to your left cheek.
So mannerless.
A passenger aircraft cuts diagonally across the sky above Nairobi (Kenya), leaving behind it a condensation trail. January 2026. Photograph by Marcus Olang’ (stillsbymarcus.com).
"Ghost."
Last day of 2025. With a photoshoot to wrap it up. And a quiet, firm, just-in-time affirmation with it.
May the new calendar be kind to all that live in kindness.
Hi. Hello. Shikamoo. Have you taken a moment to yourself this week? How about today - have you had a moment to breathe today?
How about now? Take it. Take a moment. Just... be.
Here's a picture of flowers. Flowers are always nice.
Or maybe I just don't know how to edit using Edits. 🤷🏿♂️
Tried again and again.
Same result.
The final captioned edit? From Capcut.
Curious occurrence.
Let me tell you a fun little thing about my latest video post on IG. Tried captioning it through the Edits app.
Started well.
Until.
Until about halfway through.
When I mention "Palestine".
Then all of a sudden, the Edits app issues a notice.
"No speech detected."
Or until you tell yourself, “That’s enough. Perfection is a myth. If it burns, it burns.”
(Ask a Kenyan near you what the origin of that last phrase is, and the variations thereof.)
Then, seeing better, a part of your brain goes, “Yeah. But we can do even better.”
So you start again.
And again.
Until it feels… Right.
