In the early 2000s, there used to be three mini-buses that plied the Langalanga–Shabab route in Nakuru.
Out of the three, Foxy was the pioneer and the most popular. The others were First Lady and Nelly & Kelly.
For the short period that they operated, the three manyangas were a darling of many young people for a variety of reasons.
When they eventually left as abruptly as they had arrived, they left many forlorn faces behind.
For beginners, the buses used to charge Sh10 while the others were charging Sh15.
They used to ply the Langalanga, Pondamali then into Shabaab before taking the highway back to town.
Back then, they were the only vehicles that could take you from Langalanga to Shabaab.
Apart from the loud hip-hop music the manyangas would play, they were also popular because of the funny conductors who manned them.
They were always jovial, cracked jokes and made endless conversations with the passengers especially the girls.
Probably due to the antics of the bus conductors and the loud music, the elderly folks were not really fond of the buses but this never discouraged the manambas.
They would dance in the bus, make randy jokes, swing from the door and basically do everything to impress the girls who made almost three-quarters of the passengers on every trip.
For the short period they operated, the buses were a real threat to the 14-seater matatus. Then all of a sudden, passengers dwindled almost overnight and the buses had to be taken off the route. But what really happened?
According to Samuel Gitu, a resident of Langalanga, bizarre rumours started spreading that the matatus would turn into cows during the night and eat grass.
Speculation began that the vehicles belonged to the Illuminati and before long, no more passengers were boarding the bus.
“The stories were obviously false and were spread by the 14 seater matatu crew who were worried about their dwindling returns. The rumours worked wonders as the buses were pushed out of business,” says Gitu.
Due to the loud music and blinking lights, the old ones would complain of headaches. The detractors claimed that the headaches were caused by spirits that were using supernatural powers to take blood from the riders.
And that’s how the only mini-buses to ever operate in Nakuru were knocked out of the business.
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