A bus ride the Kakise way

I have in the past gotten used to roaring around in Gateway Bus Service, whose destinations cover most towns in the country. Somehow the crew was shuffled around the numerous routes that I became familiar with many of them as I kept travelling with the same fellows regardless of which route!

As fate would have it on the journey I am writing about, I decided to travel by a not so well known service, Kakise Bus Service, which was bound for Soroti through Mbale. At the beginning, everything seemed normal, except for my rather excitable neighbour by the window who bought a pair of sandals from a vendor through the window as we waited for the bus to fill…However, a short while after we set off, he realised the two sandals were of the left foot yet the seller had coolly collected his money more than 10 minutes earlier and of course…left!

The victim plunged into a “quarrel”, threw curses and made a scene to no logical conclusion and as he calmed down, the conductor took a microphone and began addressing passengers in a manner similar to that on airplanes.

Through a booming public address system, he introduced the driver, himself and the driver’s assistant (turn boy), who was in charge of loading and offloading passengers’ luggage. “This is Kakise Bus Service…We are bound for Soroti, where we shall arrive in about five hours…we thank you for travelling by this bus; you are the reason we are on the road…to serve you. If any of our services does not satisfy you, please let us know.”

Then he asked all passengers to humble ourselves for prayers and anyone regardless of faith to lead us! A young Christian did with characteristic born-again fervour, casting the devil out of the bus windows, out of its crew and passengers and consigning it to a (nameless) desert.

The robust voice with which the young man employed himself in accomplishing this task attracted the attention and curious looks of motorists and pedestrians right from Crested Towers roundabout on Nile Avenue on to the next roundabout on Yusuf Lule Road, through the junction at “the yard” up to Jinja Road police station when he finally said amen.

Reclaiming his microphone, the conductor advised that we make ourselves comfortable and made another point, “Black bags will be supplied at no extra cost to anyone who feels like throwing up, a consequence of the fuel fumes and being shaken up. If you buy a snack, you will also get a polythene bag for the safe deposit of your refuse. We shall make a stop-over at Namawojolo to enable those who want to buy snacks to do so. We shall make another stop-over after Iganga to enable those who feel like going for a short call to do so as well. Enjoy your journey.”

Surely when we reached Namawojolo, we did stop and the passengers obliged their needs and we took off soon afterwards. What the announcements had not prepared me for was the sight of the turn boy not only liberally giving out black bags, but also well designed coloured serviettes. He soon returned with plastic buckets for the safe deposit of whatever refuse would be generated and when he returned another time, he was passing tooth picks. I was floored!

Judging that the munching had largely subsided, the young man made another return just after Jinja, to collect the nearly full buckets, occasioning bewilderment on my part, for the amount of garbage and what it would have done to the passengers who were travelling all the way to Soroti. No wonder that some coaches stink.

After moving for a while on Nakalama-Tirinyi-Mbale road, the bus came to a stop at what I realised was a “designated” site. Repetitive (men’s) urination had burnt up patches behind the bushes, previously used serviettes were in evidence strewn among chicken bones as were goat ribs, plastic water bottles, soda bottle tops and indeed used polythene bags.

As I left the bush musing over Kakise’s oversight on the impact its action was subjecting the environment to, I emerged on to the road for another marvel, passengers lined up to wash their hands before entering the bus. A bucket had been overturned to hold a water container of about 25litres with a tap. There was soap too!

In Mbale, passengers who bought ‘bogoya’ received a polythene bag each as promised, for the safe deposit of their fruits. I got off for my rendezvous.

cap: Passengers line up to wash their hands before entering the bus. This was after a short call stopover enroute to Mbale.