Mbukinya founder rests: From humble eggs vendor to giant transport tycoon
Paul Mburu Kinyanjui Muthumbi, the founder of the iconic Kenyan bus company Mbukinya, has passed away at age 92. His company played a significant role in Kenya's social and economic history by providing affordable transport for low-income earners between Nairobi and rural regions.
Why it matters
The story reflects the cultural and economic impact of grassroots entrepreneurship on the mobility of low-income populations in East Africa.
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.
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