Modern Coast Driver Complained About Bus Before Crash- Wife
The driver, who sired two children with her, had complained to his wife several times that the bus was faulty, causing him sleepless nights owing to trips to the garage over the issue.
Marvin Chege 
The wife of the Modern Coast bus driver, Mzee Simba, whose vehicle plunged into the Nithi River along Meru-Nairobi Highway on Sunday, July 24 and killed 34 people, has revealed the complaints he raised with the ill-fated vehicle.
Addressing the media on Monday, July 25, Beatrice Wakuthie revealed that his husband had a difficult time operating the vehicle, recounting how its brakes had failed on several occasions.
The driver, who sired two children with her, had complained to his wife several times that the bus was faulty, causing him sleepless nights owing to trips to the garage over the issue.
Beatrice Wakuthie, the wife of Mzee Simba, speaking to the media on July 25, 2022 after the Nithi River accident. /NTV
"He kept complaining that the bus was faulty. He came home everyday to tell me 'mama Mercy, that bus is not in good condition.'
"He used to spend a lot of time with the bus in the garage and kept saying that its brakes failed. They kept failing until the time of his death," she said.
She further disclosed that she was at a parent's meeting in their daughter's school when he called her promising to send money, the last communication they had before the accident.
Wakuthie then got wind of the crash through numerous phone calls by friends who shared the news on social media and after watching the 9 pm news, she decided to confirm from the company if the bus that crashed was driven by her husband.
“I had attended a parent’s meeting at our daughter’s school and he actually spoke to her and promised to send her money and since then we had not spoken again. His phone was not going through,” she said.
“Later in the evening, I was called by people asking me if it was true that a bus in Meru had been involved in an accident with Mzee Simba on board…But I couldn’t confirm until I watched the 9 o’clock news.”
Wakuthie added that Mzee Simba has been going through tough working conditions without pay for two years. He returned to work in February 2021, almost a year since COVID-19 struck in the country, and has been complaining over the lack of pay.
"When Corona struck, they were laid off. They stayed a long time without being paid a salary. When they got back, they kept working without being paid their salaries.
"Even for the past three months we are talking, from the second month until now, he has not been paid. He comes home without even Ksh100 and has been spending long hours at work without anything. Now he has died without any money," she added.
The accident prompted the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) to suspend operations of all Modern Coast Buses.
NTSA Director General George Njao revealed in a press statement on Monday, July 25 that all 31 buses operating under the company traversing all the seven routes had been halted from operations.
The authority also announced that it is working with multiple agencies in investigating the accident as well as evaluating the operator's safety operational standards. This is after the ill-fated bus drew controversy following past involvements in road accidents.
An image of the Modern Coast bus that plunged into the Nithir River after veering off Nithi bridge on Sunday, July 24, 2022. /MERU DAILY NEWS
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