Simon Richoh: Meet Salesman Behind ‘Karibia Karibia Customer Upate Line Ya Airtel 4G Free’

• The ‘karibia karibia customer upate line ya Airtel 4G free’ voice recording is common in Kenyan towns across the country
• The voice is that of a man advertising SIM cards and promising free bundles if one registers an Airtel line
• Simon Richoh (popularly known as MC Richoh), is the mastermind behind the iconic voice having landed a sales job

As Kenyans go on with their daily hustles in cities and towns, a familiar voice often echoes through the streets.

The voice is that of a man advertising SIM cards and promising free bundles if one registers an Airtel line.

"Karibia karibia customer upate line ya Airtel 4G free of charge. Kisha tunakuzawadi 100MBs of data. Vilevile tunafanya sim replacement na tunafananisha number. Karibu customer," the voice goes.

Who is the mastermind behind the voice?

Simon Richoh, popularly known as MC Richoh, is the mastermind behind the iconic voice.

The salesman has promoted Airtel products and SIM cards for Kenya's second-largest telecommunications company.

Richoh completed his high school studies in 2017 and moved to Nairobi in search of greener pastures.

Destiny guided him into a sales position, where his innate talent for connecting with people propelled him to success.

“I just love speaking. Even in class, I was a noisemaker," he said, as quoted by Who Owns Kenya.

How Richoh landed an advertising job

Accompanied by two friends, they were provided with Airtel lines to vend and earn commissions.

However, Richoh, with a distinctive approach to enhancing sales, conceived the idea of using his recorded voice as a promotional tool.

Recognising his talent as a voice-over artist, he ventured into a studio, uttered the iconic phrase, and captured his voice on record.

"I saw that instead of selling the SIM cards that we were being given for free, let’s also give them out for free.

That was how I came up with the statement ‘Free of Charge’. As an incentive, we would award the customer 50MBs of data," he explained.

Together with his friends, they bought speakers and moved around the city's estates, popularising the karibia karibia customer phrase.

The idea worked well as customers trooped to acquire SIM cards, boosting sales. He shared the voice recording with other sales agents, which went viral.

Why Richoh felt betrayed

His voice recording captured Airtel's attention, which adopted it as their official promotional voice for SIM card sales. The voice rapidly spread across every corner of Kenya.

Regrettably, to Richoh's dismay, the telco failed to offer him any compensation for his invaluable contribution.

Feeling betrayed by the company he had played a crucial role in promoting, he made numerous attempts to establish contact with Airtel, seeking acknowledgement and fair compensation for his voice.

His efforts did not bear fruits. He now runs a photography and events company.

Airtel increases transaction limit.

In a separate story, Airtel Kenya increased its per transaction limit from KSh 150,000 to KSh 250,000 following approval by the Central Bank of Kenya.

The company explained that the new limit, increased by KSh 100,000, will help customers do large transactions conveniently.

Earlier, Airtel increased its daily mobile money transaction limit to KSh 500,000, up from KSh 300,000.

At the same time, Indian Continent Investment Limited raised its stake in Airtel Africa by purchasing shares valued at £57.25 million (KSh 10.6 billion).