Travellers beware of cons at bus stops

By Stephen Muthini

After exams, every student was eager to travel home for the long December holidays.

It had been a hectic semester, which had been slightly prolonged by the lecturers’ strike.

This was really a great strain on students’ budget and especially people like me who lived each day on the edge.

Even under normal circumstances I am usually as broke as a church mouse at that time of the semester — all the loan from the Helb having been properly utilised in booze and other forms of entertainment plus securing spry-looking ‘fresher’ in the highly-competitive ‘gold rush’.

I stood forlornly at the Eldoret bus station with my heavy luggage.

I had tried in vain to convince the touts who were jostling for passengers to accept the Sh500 as my fare to Nairobi.

They adamantly refused, insisting that they could only accept Sh700 to Nairobi. I tried borrowing the deficit from my friends but none had any cash to lend.

I suspected their reluctance was due to my poor repayment record. I had accumulated debts over the semester and most of my creditors had simply written them off after trying all means to recover their money.

The Eldoret Express bus, which all my friends boarded, took off. One of them waved at me, a gleeful smile clearly written on his face.

I owed him Sh500, which had been outstanding for a year. He had lent it to me in a drunken folly when we were boozing at ‘systems’. Now he seemed happy to let me learn a lesson for having swindled him.

"Vipi msee? Nai soo sita!’ a fast-talking tout approached me with an offer of Sh600. I had only Sh500 but I sensed that I could strike a deal with the friendly tout.

"I have only Sh500 and I am a frequent traveller on this route. Do me a favour and I’ll tip you generously one day," I pleaded.

The tout was adamant but after haggling for some time he offered to assist me.

"Ok, but not a word to anyone about it," he whispered as he wrote a receipt. I really felt relieved.

Luck

I handed him the Sh500 and took the receipt. I had struck a rare deal because for the three years I have travelled from Eldoret to Nairobi, I had never paid less than Sh600.

I boarded the 14-seater matatu, happy that I would make it to Nairobi after all.

"Just a minute, let me see your receipt," the tout demanded. I complied but at the same time was very apprehensive that he might have changed his mind.

"It’s alright," he said as he put the receipt back into my breast pocket after ascertaining what he wanted. I did not bother to look. He handed the money and the receipt book to the driver and the journey to Nairobi commenced. The tout remained in Eldoret.

The journey was uneventful. We reached Nakuru some minutes past midnight. That is when trouble struck.

The matatu driver asked those who were proceeding to Nairobi to produce their receipts so that he could hand them over to another vehicle as he had reached his destination.

We alighted but we were a bit uncomfortable with the idea of being shuffled. I complained loudly on behalf of the other meek passengers and they joined in.

Protest

"These matatu people think we are sheep to be herded. Give me back my money! I can board a vehicle of my choice," a man demanded but the driver stuck to his guns refusing to refund any money to the passengers. In the end, the rowdy passengers just had to toe the line. I was happy that the point had been made.

When my turn came, I confidently handed the driver my receipt but was shocked to see him throw it at me.

"Stop your nonsense! You paid Sh300 to Nakuru. We are in Nakuru," the driver said sternly.

I picked the receipt and looked at it keenly. It was indicated from Eldoret to Nakuru — Sh300 only.

"But I paid the fare to Nairobi Sh500! The conductor accepted it," I protested vehemently but the driver could not listen to my story. My fellow travellers did not join me this time.

They just stared pitifully as if I had suddenly been diagnosed with a terminal disease. I realised I had been conned. The matatu tout had switched my original ticket to Nairobi with one for Nakuru!

I was now stranded on the highway in the dead of night and with no coin in my pocket.

I had to brave the biting chill of the night as I waited for my brother to send me bus fare through M-Pesa in the morning.