MUSANZE - Lady luck smiled on 25-year old Ismail Bigirimana’ s life after he had just walked into an MTN shop in order to be connected.

The "Boda Boda” operator bought an MTN SIM card for the very first time in his life on March 6, not knowing that he was the mobile operator’s, two millionth subscriber. MTN management later informed him that that he was a winner of a Rwf 2 million reward. 

Bigirimana, is a small scale farmer in Byangabo, Musanze district in the Northern Province, who supplements his meagre incomes  as a "Boda Boda” cyclist earning on average Rwf800 per day. 

MTN rewarded Bigirimana with a brand new motor cycle worth Rwf 900,000, mobile phone hand sets, assorted farm inputs, and airtime worth Rwf180,000. 

"I have been a cyclist for the last eight years, carrying people from Byangabo to Ruhengei Town at Rwf100 per person, but my life has suddenly changed because I will use this new motorcycle, to make more money which will ultimately enable me to prosper even further ,’’ the overwhelmed father of two, said as he reached to embrace his wife during the hand over ceremony. 

During the ceremony Bigirimana, narrated his past life. He said that poverty saw him drop out of school in primary five after which he  began his tough calling as a "Boda Boda” operator and farmer. He added that  while doing about his duties he was once  involved in an accident which almost cost his life. 

"I thank God for lifting me out of poverty. In return I promise to offer support to another   poor person  within our village as pay back for what we have received today,’’ Bigirirmana said. 

While handing over the rewards, MTN’s CEO, Khaled Mikkawi, noted that it took 10 years for MTN to get past the one million subscriber base while it has just taken 16 months for the telecom firm to hit the 2 million subscriber level.   

"While we celebrate the registering of Ismael on our network and appreciating what this means for us, we know we must work hard, smarter and faster for our customers.

We shall continue investing in the latest technology while being at the forefront of launching unique value adding products to our clients,’’ Khaled said.

Ends