Oshakati cousins run key making business

JUST imagine having lost your car key at and around Oshakati and you have no spare one. Two options would immediately pop up-either you abandon the vehicle and start commuting on public transport, which will be most unlikely, or you go find someone to make new keys for you.

If you choose the latter, that’s how Mbaundja Muhuka (26) and his cousin, Kemseun Muhuka, enter game. The two young men are proud owners of a key making and duplicating business based at Oshakati. sat with them yesterday to enlighten us on the operations of their business.

“I learned this trade from my father when I was a young boy attending primary school,” Mbaundja told . He stressed during school holidays he would come from Opuwo and assist his father at their shop in the Oneshila location of Oshakati. “ I fell in love with making duplicates for people who have lost their keys that I decided it is what I want to do after completing school,” he narrated. At his father’s workshop, they would only make house keys.

Mbaudja, whose family is originally from Opuwo in the Kunene, said that after completing high school at Mureti High School he continued helping out at his father’s workshop with his cousin Kemseun.

However, due to customers’ demand and the fact that he had gained much skills and experience he decided to branch out with his cousin, with whom he grew up and learned the trade.

We wanted new challenges in this field. That is why we started our own shop at the Oshakati open market when it opened in 2016. “ We introduced the new concept of making copies of car keys. Both new and old models,” he stated.

Today, their business, called Car Keys & Mobile Locksmith CC is a household name in the industry. They manufacture car keys, house keys, safe keys and make duplicates as well. They also make replacements of car ignition locks and door locks as well as car alarm installations.

“We were not doing these services in the past, but came up with them the time we moved here,” he observed. The pair receives call from across the country and travel extensively to attend to clients. People also come from far to access their services.

The most sophisticated job that they carry out is the replacement of programmed keys like those of many luxurious vehicles, where they have to access data from vehicle computer boxes and use it to manufacture new keys. Additional charges in this regard would depend, however, on the location of the car to be worked on.

They also have a locked door opening devise, a rubber bag that can be placed between the door and body of the car. If inflated, it expands and can widen the space between the body of the car and the door, enabling a person to remove the forgotten keys or to open the door from inside, without damaging or removing the door lock. They charge N$ 400 for this.

The two brothers import their materials chiefly from China and South Africa. “The materials we use comes from China and South Africa and are quite expensive. If we could source them locally, business would be good,” Mbaundja indicated.

Mbaundja indicated their intention of introducing two new services in the new future.

“ We are currently looking at the concept of starting a vehicle while the person is outside the car. In China it is being done, and we only want funds to import the materials needed. We also want a vehicle tracking system that can be fitted in cars at an affordable price. Our people will be able to trace the movement of their vehicles on their mobile phones,” he stated.

The two pointed out they want investors to realise their dreams. They also implored other youths to follow their dreams.” Follow what you are passionate about,” Mbaundja advised. During our interview, several customers turned up looking for duplicate keys and other services. One of them includes long time client Immanuel Matheus from Ongha in Ohangwena region.

“ The lock of the ignition of my bakkie is worn out and the car does not want to start. No person is doing this work in Ohangwena and I always come here. I trust these boys and of all the work they have done for me and the people I refer to them, no complaint,” he said.

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