The family of Lukas Abdala, the driver of the Kakamega bound bus that killed 56 passengers, has divulged that he resigned from Matunda Bus Company three days before he got a job with the ill-fated bus.
Standard reported that relatives of the 72 year-old driver said he had only worked in the bus for two days adding that he had a wealth of experience as a driver spanning 50 years.
According to his cousin Johnson Chogo, Abdala a father of 25 children was a social and welcoming individual and also took care of his late brothers’ children.
“This is a bad omen because Abdala was our breadwinner. We even don’t have money to cater for the funeral expenses and we can only hope well-wishers will help us,” said Chogo.
Mr. Chogo added that they received news of the accident on radio but did not believe Abdala would be among the victims.Lukas Abdala’s friends at the Machakos Country Bus Terminus said that he was a disciplined driver.
In the Standard report, a driver who claimed to have been friends with Abdala and had known him for over 15 years revealed that the driver of the ill-fated bus refused to drive it because the brake linings were completely worn out.
“The vehicle did not have brake linings, they were completely worn out. The driver declined to drive the bus until the brake linings were changed so they decided to bring on a temporary driver,” said Francis Mwangi a driver with the Eldoret Bus Services.
He also said that he personally vouched for Lukas Abdala because he was a careful driver and he never saw him drink alcohol.
Mr Mwangi revealed that the Home Boyz bus’ brake linings were completely worn out.
According to Mwangi, Abdala stepped in as a temporary driver after the designated driver refused to take over the trip due to the vehicle’s condition.
“The driver declined to drive the bus until the brake linings were changed so they decided to bring on a temporary driver,” remarked the Eldoret bus driver.
He further highlighted Abdala as a very careful driver for the 15 years he knew him and had never seen him use any drugs.
However, Abdala’s relatives revealed that Abdala had previously worked for Matunda Bus Company which rebranded to Nairobi Bus Cooperation and resigned three days before getting a job with the Western Cross Express.
They further expounded that he had been a driver for nearly 50 years and his record on the road stood out as he had never been involved in an accident.