He saved Sh6,000 which he added a Sh 5,000 loan to buy and operate his first second-hand bus Mbukinya founder Paul Mburu Kinyanjui Muthumbi/ HANDOUT For many Kenyans from Western and Nyanza, Christmas did not begin with carols or festive meals. It began at Nairobi's chaotic Country Bus Station along Landhies Road.
Days before Christmas, families would arrive carrying more than suitcases. There would be sofa sets, beds, mattresses, aluminium boxes, sacks of clothes, iron sheets, bicycles, televisions and bags of shopping. Then came January, the same families would return to Nairobi aboard the very same buses, only this time carrying bags of maize, beans, chicken and occasionally a goat would find its place among the luggage.
For decades, there was one bus company that became synonymous with these journeys and these extraordinary loads –Mbukinya. With the death of its founder, Paul Mburu Kinyanjui Muthumbi, on July 20, aged about 92, Kenya is bidding farewell to a transport entrepreneur whose buses quietly became part of the country's social and economic history.
Founded around 1983, Mbukinya whose name originated as a shortened blend of the founder's names: Mburu Kinyanjui, grew into one of Kenya's oldest surviving long-distance public service vehicle companies, connecting Nairobi with Western Kenya, Nyanza and later the Coast.
For many low-income earners, the company was more than a bus operator. It was an affordable bridge between the city and home. While middle-income travellers often opted for more expensive bus companies, thousands of factory workers, watchmen, house helps, students and small traders found a place on Mbukinya's buses.
Students travelling to Nairobi for the first time to join universities are also in the list of those who have memories of the long journies in Mbukinya.