Mombasa tout’s moment of fame with President Uhuru Kenyatta

President Uhuru Kenyatta has a chat with Mzee Ali Mrabu, a tout in Bomu during a stopover at Changamwe on his way to Moi International Airport, Mombasa, last Saturday .[PHOTO/PSCU]

MOMBASA COUNTY: Ali Mrabu Mzee, 49, alias Major, is enjoying sudden fame among his peers after getting President Uhuru's attention when the Head of State unexpectedly stopped at Changamwe on Saturday.

This Matatu tout had the rare chance in life when President Uhuru Kenyatta gave him unfettered audience that lasted a cool five minutes. Newspaper pages had images of Ali shaking the President's hands as they engaged in hearty conversations.

Also in the picture were Regional Coordinator Coast, Samuel Kilele, President Uhuru's Aide de Camp and presidential guards.

Presidential press crew who took his pictures presented to him a copy of a picture taken with him and the President. He walks around with it and dares anyone who cares to see it.

President Uhuru, who was on his way to the Moi International Airport from State House Mombasa on Saturday had stopped at Changamwe to address a crowd that had gathered by the roadside.

HEAVILY GUARDED

"I was not prepared for anything. But when the President started addressing us, I felt the urge to get the President's ear and knew for sure that he will listen to me," Ali told The Standard team that tracked him to his rural home at Kafuduni, Kinango constituency, Kwale County .

The President, who is heavily guarded by mean looking men, had stopped only a few metres from where Ali stood sandwiched between hordes of locals catching a glimpse of Kenya's fourth president.

His nervousness appeared to have attracted the instincts of the President who ordered him to move forward and talk to him on one to one.

"I felt numb at first but just trudged ahead. And I was standing to Kenya's most powerful and heavily guarded man," he said.

TWO MATATUS

Mr Mzee says he thanked the Head of State for his leadership style and told him to persevere the current challenges his government was facing.

"I told him he had inherited a government with a new constitution that was yet to fully take root and his reign will not be like his predecessors," he said, adding that the President took keen interest when he told him this.

Mzee, who was still clad in the same outfit he wore on the day he spoke to the Head of State, said he had to retreat to his rural home from his Magongo , Mwagosi rental house after people started flocking his home.

"Some of them think the Head of State gave me loads of cash and come asking for a share," he said.

Ali said he told the Head of State that he was involved in Matatu business though he never owned one himself

"I pleaded with the President to help me acquire at least two of my own and he said he will come back to Mombasa to open the Mombasa International ASK show," Mzee said.

He said he is a staunch TNA supporter and together with his uncle, Rajab Athman voted for President Uhuru during the last general elections.

He is convinced that his request to the President will receive a favourable response.

"I am currently in charge of controlling Matatus that ply the Changamwe - Miritini route and on a good day when traffic flows freely, I can take home up to Sh1,200. But on a day when there are traffic cops all over, I only manage Sh300,'' said Mr Mzee whose encounter with formal education was terminated in Class Seven at Mavirivirini Primary School.

As he takes us round his family home a few metres away from the Mombasa - Nairobi highway, he can only imagine better times for him if and when the President acts on his request.

Come Monday and Ali expects to be back at his 'office' where he works ensuring that Matatus get passengers before they hit the road.