These are the key faces of a Kenyan debtor - corporate or individual
Enterprise
By
James Mungai
| Sep 09, 2026
In debt recovery, a lesson you learn very fast is that not every debtor is broke.
While some may be struggling, others are simply comfortable using your money. On the phone, the two sound almost identical. “Boss, mambo imekuwa tight”. The real skill is knowing whether the problem is the economy, the business or the debtor’s attitude.
Here is the uncomfortable part that most creditors miss. Many Kenyan businesses are not killed by lack of sales. They are killed by financing their customers. That is the real reason recovery matters and it is why we start by asking a simple question about every debtor: Can they pay or are they not going to pay?
In credit, we call them the can’t pay and the won’t pay. The can’t pay debtor has a genuine cashflow problem. The business may have customers, stock, even profitable contracts, but the money is coming in too slowly.
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The won’t pay debtor is a different animal. The money exists. Your invoice has simply been filed somewhere between “nitashughulikia” and “tutaongea.”
Each one needs a different handling. The can’t pay debtor needs pressure aimed at the cash cycle, not the person. You cannot squeeze blood from a stone, but you can ask the stone where the water is. Who owes them?
When is payment expected? What stock is moving? What contracts are coming? What can they realistically pay today? A Sh10 million debt does not always require a Sh10 million conversation. Sometimes, the breakthrough starts with Sh100,000. Then comes the won’t pay character, who will teach you patience you never knew you had. The business is busy. New stock has arrived. Staff are being paid. The owner has just upgraded the company vehicle. You call about your invoice and suddenly the business has entered a recession.
“Boss, just give me mpaka Friday”. Friday arrives and so does the famous network issue. Call again and the phone is unavailable.
WhatsApp shows two blue ticks, but nobody has seen anything. Then the message finally lands: “Sorry boss, ilikuwa imeingia lakini kuna issue.” Which issue? Nobody knows. But somehow it has survived three Fridays.
This is where we stop calling and start separating facts from stories. What was promised? What was actually done? Is there a real dispute or just a talented storyteller? Is there cash somewhere in the business? Is the debtor negotiating in good faith or buying time?
But one question does most of the work: What exactly is stopping the debtor from paying today?” Excuses get specific when you ask for details. “I have no money” becomes “I am waiting for a Sh3 million payment.”
Good, now we understand the cash cycle. “The invoice is disputed” becomes “there is one delivery issue.” Fine, let us fix it. But when every answer produces another story, we are no longer looking at a cash-flow problem, we are looking at a priority problem.
This is where many creditors lose their money. They confuse being polite with being passive. They accept promise after promise because they fear damaging the relationship.
Six months later they are still protecting the relationship while the receivable has become a museum piece. At our firm, recovery is firm without being foolish, professional without being weak, strategic without being theatrical.
-The writer is a Certified Public Accountant and the founder of Marathon Debt Recovery Ltd