Kenya's biggest telecommunications company, Safaricom has warmed the hearts of many netizens after news of them surprising a 88-year-old man for his birthday went viral.

The interaction began when Mzee Kiplagat arap Koech received a happy birthday wish from the service provider as he clocked for 88 years.

Elated by the text and feeling very special, the old man personally embarked on a journey to go and thank Safaricom for the birthday message.

In a video shared on Safaricom's official FaceBook page, Mzee Koech goes on to narrate how when he received the birthday message on the 20th of April, he marched to the I&M centre to tell the Safaricom guys there he was super grateful for the message.

 "The message was written Kiplagat arap Koech, Happy birthday; Nilisoma niliruka kweli!. Nimechukua Safaricom kwa njia ya maana sana. Nashukuru wafanyakazi wa Safaricom," gushed Kiplagat.

Workers at that division were completely in awe of the old man and mesmerized by his genuine appreciation of the simple text. The bosses upstairs on hearing about the interaction were touched by the gesture and invited Kiplagat to their headquarters to celebrate his birthday and honor his loyalty.

"When Mzee Kiplangat Arap Koech turned 88 years on 20th April 2023, he received a message from Safaricom wishing him a happy birthday.

This was such an unexpected surprise for him that he went to the Safaricom I&M shop to express his gratitude," the telecommunications giant revealed.

The FaceBook post was followed up with how elated they were hearing the news of Mzee's visit and that they actually made plans to have him come in for a proper birthday celebration with cake and all.

"We invited Mzee from Tinderet, Eldoret, for a meet and greet at Safaricom HQ to celebrate his birthday and thank him for his loyalty," finished up Safaricom on their Facebook page. 

According to Safaricom's Chief Consumer Business Officer Fawzia Ali, they decided to fly the old man from Nandi to Nairobi for the celebration.

When Mzee Koech arrived at the Safaricom offices, he found a celebrity worthy welcome and a beautiful cake waiting for him. He was also gifted a safaricom shirt, a new phone, a warm new black coat among several other things.

In the video, we can see him arriving at Safaricom offices then him getting a tour of the place before meeting with Safaricom's Chief Consumer Business Officer Fawzia Ali. The old man even though almost toothless was seen smiling and laughing heartily as he went on to sing happy birthday to himself.

He appeared to have a comedic bone in his body as he managed to light up the room with laughter and good vibes.

"At first he didn't believe us when he was talked he's coming here for us to celebrate his birthday.... He is so touched by the work Safaricom does. I want to pass this message to all of our workers, what you do matters and it is felt all across," disclosed Fawzia Ali.

The post currently has over 18.7 views, 2.4k likes and over 345 comments. It has also been shared 28 times.

Below are a few comments from netizens:

Naomi Carla; Happy Birthday Mzee and thank you Safaricom for putting a smile on his face during his birthday.

Ryan Kim Malit: Happy Birthday to mzee, this is a kind gesture.

David Gitau Wainaina: Ghukaa God be with you long life, thank you Safaricom for your golden host to baby

Maxwel Gibson Kipngeno: For you Safaricom, may you go far for sharing happiness to more people around the globe.

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