For nearly four decades, Mbukinya has been a reliable and affordable transport option for Kenyans.
The company is among the oldest and most respected transport service providers in the country, offering passenger and parcel services to major routes and over long distances.
Mbukinya is headquartered in Landhies Road, Starehe, Nairobi County, and comprises a large fleet of buses from various manufacturers.
The company was founded by Paul Mburu Muthumbi.
Muthumbi was born and raised in Limuru, a town in central Kenya. As a secondary school student, he would tell his peers that he would one day become a successful investor in Kenya’s transport sector.
His friends would dismiss his dreams, but Muthumbi was determined to prove them wrong.
Muthumbi was fascinated by the buses that passed through his village and developed a passion for the transport sector. He decided that after school, he would venture into small business and raise money to start his own transport company.
He did not want to seek employment. However, he did not come from a well-off family, so his peers laughed at his plans.
After sitting for his final examinations in 1952, Muthumbi started selling eggs and chicken in Limuru. After 11 years, he had saved Sh. 6,000, which he used to buy his first bus, a second-hand vehicle. With a loan of Sh. 5,000, he started operating the bus between Limuru and Nairobi. After some time, he sold the bus and acquired a second-hand Mercedes Benz bus.
“I was the driver, and I had hired a conductor. Since it had now become my full-time business, I got better at it day by day,” Muthumbi said in a previous media interview.
He bought his first new bus in 1972 and explored long-distance routes that involved Kisumu and Kakamega.
“With the new bus, I was able to operate for 24 hours, and this grew the business by leaps and bounds. I increased my buses quickly,” he said.
By the 1980s, Muthumbi had 48 buses, making him one of the biggest transport operators in the country. However, he was forced to downsize in the 1990s after insurance premiums became a bit expensive. He later increased the fleet to 39 after acquiring 21 Hino buses from Toyota Kenya in 2014.
Today, Mbukinya is run by Muthumbi’s children, led by the eldest who is reported to be 70 years old. The bus company plies the Western Kenya to Nairobi, Nyanza to Nairobi, and Nairobi to Mombasa routes primarily.
The company maintains relatively affordable charges and keeps them competitive and in line with the tides of the sector.
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Despite its long history and success, Mbukinya has not been without challenges. In 2019, the company faced a crisis after 41 Toyota Hino buses it had acquired from Toyota developed severe problems before their warranties expired.
Some of the faults included fatal engine and overheating problems, brake failures, and cracks on the chassis.
Muthumbi returned the buses to Toyota, which bought out CFC bank and Tsusho Capital, the financiers of the buses, and assumed ownership of the buses.
“Toyota moved fast to agree a deal in which Toyota Kenya reportedly paid off CFC Bank and Tshusho Capital to own the 41 vehicles,” COFEK reported in 2019.
They repaired the buses and asked Muthumbi to take them back, but he only took 14, whose logbooks indicated joint ownership with Toyota Kenya.
He was allegedly paid Sh. 60 million, though he maintained that he had incurred losses in billions.