How mechanic-cum-matatu man became AFC Leopards team driver
AFC Leopards official bus driver Michael Owino with the team's luxurious new bus in Nairobi on October 5, 2020.
What you need to know:
- Being a mechanic, he also does any repairs needed in addition to ensuring that the bus is always clean
- He confesses he had problems with the brand new luxurious bus that AFC Leopards acquired last year with the help of President Uhuru Kenyatta
- With sporting activities suspended since March, AFC Leopards have effectively been idle rendering his job redundant under the circumstances
When Michael Owino took over driving the AFC Leopards official club bus tongues started wagging.
“How can Leopards allow a person belonging to rival club drive their players?”
You see, Leopards predominantly draw their support from the Western part of the country while their bitter rivals Gor Mahia get theirs from the Nyanza region.
“My Father is Luhya and my mother is Luo. Many fans did not know me well always questioned why I drove the Ingwe bus yet I am from Nyanza. They later came to find out that I hail from Busia and the questions stopped. I can speak both languages fluently,” Owino said when Nation Sport caught up with him in Kibera, Nairobi.
So how did he end up becoming the official Ingwe driver?
“Before I started driving the new bus, I was the mechanic for the old bus for 10 years. When the previous driver quit his job, the management approached me to drive the bus and I gladly accepted,” said the 28-year-old self confessed Ingwe fan.
The offer was not really out of the blues. Owino was then also a Matatu driver, belonging to a ‘squad’ whose members would be called upon when need arose to drive a matatu on route eight Kibera.
AFC Leopards luxurious new bus.
But how would players react to being driven by a matatu driver, notoriously known for their reckless bravado on the road.
“The players did not have an issue with me driving the bus because I had driven them a few trips, although they were a little bit worried because I am young and they were used to their former driver who was elderly.
“When I now get behind the wheels, they got comfortable.”
The ex-matatu driver feels a need to explain that: “I drive them at normal speeds to tournaments -- no speeding here, as I have to make sure the players are safe. If a match is, say on a Sunday, we travel on Thursday which allows me to employ a sedate pace on the road without hurrying. A trip to Western would take the whole day.”
Owino’s job does not start and end on the steering wheel. He is charged with looking after the bus and the belongings of the players, more like a kit security officer.
Being a mechanic, he also does any repairs needed in addition to ensuring that the bus is always clean.
He confesses he had problems with the brand new luxurious bus that AFC Leopards acquired last year with the help of President Uhuru Kenyatta.
President Uhuru Kenyatta (left) tries his hand on the new AFC Leopards team bus during a breakfast meeting at State House, Nairobi on March 9, 2020.
“The job at hand was not easy because I had not driven such a vehicle. It was not like the usual buses. But just like the way a player adopts to new surroundings on the pitch, I had to get familiar with the bus and drive it competently. For now I am used to the bus and drive it comfortably. I have neither had any complains from the players nor the management.”
But it has been a struggle for him since the Covid-19 pandemic visited the world this year. With sporting activities suspended since March, AFC Leopards have effectively been idle rendering him redundant under the circumstances.
“I get my daily bread from this job but we are not working now. This job was my hope and I depend on it. We are not on the road anymore and so the bus is parked, but every morning I run its engine just to ensure it stays in service."
