The transport industry is lucrative but comes with a myriad of challenges especially for newbies.
Some of the hurdles in the public service vehicle business include high insurance costs, poor roads, high license fees, mechanical breakdowns and inflated fuel prices.
Matunda Bus Owner
Matunda Bus Corporation has been in this industry for over 15 years and was founded by a Kitale based business man Daniel Ng’ang’a.
Being a man who successfully operated a business empire in retail and wholesaler, Ng’ang’a didn’t mind taking a risk despite his friends advising him against venturing into the sector.
” Some were telling me: you’re not supposed to go into this business, it is not good – but I had a vision, I told them I will make it. It was something I had thought about for a long time,” he told Citizen TV in a past interview.
Secret behind success
Ng’ang’a began with a fleet of 5 buses before he ploughed back the profits to acquire more buses. He also introduced a fleet management system that bagged him an award from the Association of Kenya Insurers in 2010. The entrepreneur revealed that he only hires drivers with a minimum of 10 years experience and conducts seminars to instil discipline for his employees.
“They know that the customer is always right and we make seminars for drivers all the time,” he said.
Currently, Matunda Bus Corporation is operating under the name Nairobi bus and has since acquired a number of 18 seater Toyota Hiace minibuses.
Daily Earnings
After one of the buses belonging to the company was involved in an accident in 2007, Ng’ang’a argued that his bus brought in a daily income of ksh40,000 while seeking compensation.
“It was his further evidence that the company used to make an average of Kshs.40,000/= daily hence lost a sum of Kshs.1,280,000,” reads the court papers.
Routes
Matunda bus mainly links Nairobi with Western Kenya, Rift valley and Nyanza. The company currently doesn’t use online booking method and picks passengers at the Machakos country bus stage. The following are its destinations:-
- Eldoret
- Kapsabet
- Kericho
- Matunda
- Mois Bridge
- Kitale
- Kapenguria
- Webuye
- Bungoma
- Busia
- Mumias
- Kaimosi
- Mbale
- Kakamega
- Siaya
- Kisumu
- Muhoroni
Salgaa tragedy
On 31st December, a bus belonging to the company collided with a truck at Migaa, in Salgaa blackspot.
The bus was heading to Nairobi from Busia while the truck was headed for Eldoret. The accident claimed 38 lives as reported by Standard Media. The National Transport and Safety Authority was forced to ban night travel following the accident.
