NAIROBI, Kenya-Prominent lawyer Donald Kipkorir has shared a sobering personal story that captures the risks and heartbreak many Kenyans have faced in the stock market.
About 15 years ago, Kipkorir says he teamed up with a dozen friends to form an investment company known as LK40.
The idea was simple: pool resources, invest in the capital markets, and grow wealth together. Between them, the group raised close to Sh20 million.
They entered the market at a time of great optimism. Kenya Airways, Mumias Sugar Company and Kenya Power were among the most talked-about stocks at the Nairobi Securities Exchange, each trading at around Sh50 a share.
On the advice of a stockbroker, LK40 invested all its money in the three companies.
“We thought the prices would go to the stratosphere,” Kipkorir recalls.
Capital Markets Trading WoesAbout 15 years ago, I came together with about 12 friends & we formed a company called LK40 to attempt at capital markets trading. We put together nearly Kshs.20m. A stock broker advised us to invest in then “hot” KQ, Mumias & KPLC which were then
Instead, the opposite happened. One by one, the stocks collapsed—and never truly recovered. Today, Kenya Airways trades below Sh5, Kenya Power at about Sh15, while Mumias Sugar has fallen to less than Sh1 a share.
The losses were devastating. The company was eventually abandoned, and the group walked away quietly, demoralised by the experience.
“We don’t even know where the share certificates are,” Kipkorir says.
What makes the story striking is that the investors were not novices. Kipkorir says his fellow shareholders were senior corporate executives—people accustomed to making big decisions and managing risk.
For them, LK40 marked their first serious attempt at stock market investing. It also became their last.
The experience reflects a broader chapter in Kenya’s capital markets history, when many investors bought into highly valued stocks during periods of optimism, only to be caught out by poor performance, weak governance and structural challenges in some of the country’s largest listed firms.
