Things went well for the company for a while before the wheels started getting off the rut. They were still making millions of shillings daily. They had a package to ferry local football fans to the south. The youthful technicians the senior Nathoo had trained and mentored were still burning the midnight oil in Industrial Area churning out bodies.
The disillusionment hadn't set in yet. Woes at the company began when bad decisions made at the top became a regularity. Karim had no idea what it takes to run a company this big - or any business at all. He'd call and cancel board meetings. He'd start making pay cuts. He'd delay salaries. He'd hire seasoned staff and hire newbies for half their salaries.
He'd disappear from the office for weeks on end. Karim made slashes of the stipulated monthly stipends to other shareholders - in this case, his sibling and their families. Before his father's death, he'd also solely lived on timely, generous stipends. In response, his brother, Moez, would storm a booking office in a random town he'd be in and demand cash. Several other members of their families would follow suit. After serving the regional public transport industry for over 50 years Akamba Bus Company has wound up operations due to financial constraints.
Sources from Kenya revealed that Akamba was highly indebted to several financial institutions and other service providers, who confiscated its buses. The premises formerly occupied by Akamba are being rebranded for Easy Coach, which is, plying the Kampala-Nairobi route.
Traveling at night makes this long journey seem much shorter since you can sleep most of the way. Traveling between Nairobi and Kampala by bus is inexpensive. If day travel and money are not considerations, then I do recommend spending the extra money to travel by Akamba Royal. Akamba Royal, being a newer service, has more modern and comfortable buses and, in my experience, tends to be more prompt. I think I have told you all you need to know about traveling between Nairobi and Kampala using Akamba Bus.
If you have any comments, or questions you would like to ask, please leave me a comment below. Join me tomorrow to hear more about traveling with Scandinavia on this same route. The day after that, I will tell you about traveling with Regional.
If you will be making this journey soon, I wish you a safe and comfortable trip. Are you a blogger who is frustrated about not earning enough from display ads on your blog? If so take a look at this free service from a Google Certified Publishing Partner that helps you do just that. Hi Rob,. Welcome to ChickAboutTown. I am pleased to know that you are enjoying my blog. Please excuse the time I have taken to get back to you.
Yes, you can get to Mbale without going all the way to Kampala first. Akamba has a service from Nairobi to Mbale, as does Regional. I hope you enjoy your stay in East Africa! Great and informative blog. I am looking at Travelling by Road from Nairobi to Kigali. What solutions do you recommend? Hi Peter,. Welcome to ChickAboutTown! I love to travel by road, but the last time I had to shuttle between Kampala and Nairobi — I opted to fly. To stick to your specification about road travel, though.
Travel directly from Nairobi to Kigali on Regional Bus. I am not sure how much it would cost but I know it should take about hrs non-stop. But this is is one way to go. Note too: Regional has had 2 highly fatal accidents, to the best of my knowledge, in the past 5 years. The safety of travelling on Regional is quite questionable. The second option is to break the journey into two legs: Nairobi-Kampala and Kampala-Kigali.
This is a good option if you are up to the adventure and are not pressed for time. The first leg would take about hrs and could be done using Akamba or Scandinavian my recommendations.
The second would take 8 hrs using a service such as Jaguar or Regional I quote only that which I know. Travelling using this option would enable you to schedule some RnR time in Kampala that could be used discovering a new city or visiting friends in case you have any there Whatever the case, Kigali is the bomb! I hope that helps a little. I have used Akamba once and vowed not to do so again.
The bus broke down part way to Nairobi and the conductor took the cover off the engine, tied a string to the throttle and they drove the remainder of the trip with the conductor managing the throttle by a string and the driver given hand signals to the conductor indicating more fuel or less fuel.
As I was sitting in the front seat, I got fulll fuew of the procedure as well as the fumes coming off the engine. Since they knew exactly what to do, I assume that this was not an unusual experience. I have been on the Regional bus a couple of times since then and found the experience much more satisfying, although Regional did cancel my reservation in spite of having paid for the ticket in advance. Hi Richard,. Thanks for sharing that experience.
That must have been quite harrowing to say the least! Nope, I have never had an experience like that on Akamba though Akamba breaking down happens often enough. Thanks for sharing. Hello Biche and many thanx for your good rewiew on the bus services from Nairobi to Kampala. Im about to be travelling through east Africa in February and right now sort of planning my trip. As you said abowe, the road from Nairobi to Kigali is terrible.
Are you then considering the road south of Lake Victoria through Tanzania or the road north of Lake Victoria through Kampala. If the first case, do you have any good information on the safety of the road between Kampala and Kigali.
Hi Biche, I am a Muhindi who lived in Uganda from to and again in I started the Simba Steel operations in Kampala. I used the Akamba service to transport a number of my colleagues and often urgent material from Nairobi. Just calling in to say your article jogged old memories — actually for my wife Pushya and I — Kampala was a honeymoon transfer from India.
From the bottom of my heart — we loved and still love Africa. Hi Fredden,. I am glad you found this review useful.
The road is tortuous and the bus companies speed along the entire journey without speed governors , even on the sharp bends in the hilly parts of southern Ugandan and as you enter Rwanda. Truth be told, I held my breath for the better part of the journey just hoping for the best. Does anyone out there know how long that journey would take?
Of the two routes, I would generally take the route through Kampala, or else fly. I hope that helps a bit. Karibu East Africa! Welcome to East Africa! Hi Srinath,. I am glad that my site can bring a little bit of Uganda to you, wherever in the world you are as I write today, I am actually writing from the beautiful city of Kampala.
So you were in Kampala in the mid to late nineties? I remember those days well. Every time I would visit Kampala, during that time, I would be astonished at how fast the city was changing and developing! What did you like most about your stay in Uganda? Hello again Biche!
Thanx for your reply on my question about ground transport between Kigali and Kampala! I guess I will catch a flight instead, eaven if I find it a bit sad was really lookin forward doing this journey. Hmmm Fredden,. How about you break up your trip into two legs, Nairobi-Kampala and Kampala-Kigali? I am sure you can easily find safe bus transportation between Nairobi and Kampala, and then try to find a way to make it by car from Kampala to Kigali.
For instance, might you consider renting a car? Or can you think of a group of people who might be interested in doing the trip by car with you? The route is fairly straight forward and if you go slowly enough, I think it might be safe enough for you to drive yourself, especially with company. The scenery on this journey is amazing!
The death of the founder in the year pushed the company closer to the brink of collapse. It was reported that there were squabbles and ineptitude on the part of the heirs. It seems there was poor succession management and it was only the trust the company had built over the years that kept it going while in fact it was an economic shell. Further, the declining road infrastructure and security situation had a heavy toll on the company.
The deteriorating road condition in its traditional routes started to bear a heavy toll on the vehicles and it became difficult to maintain vehicles while sustaining the low prices the company was well known for.
Further, newer companies whose buses had more powerful engines such as the Japanese-made Isuzu and Swedish manufactured Scania, sleeker designs and other amenities came in to offer stiff competition.
The giant of Ukambani fell and many livelihoods were lost. Local family-owned businesses can learn from this chronicle to try improve generational business leadership succession. Akamba bus company was way ahead of its time. Budspencer Chief Lister. Akina Bada Lingam know how to induct their kids into their business empires vizuri sana. They even marry within their families ndio mali isipotee. How they avoid congenital malformations on their subsequent generations ndio sijui.
Masgwembe Chief Lister. Shida ni bonobos want their kids to enjoy a pampered and luxurious life in compensation for what they did not have while growing up.
This breeds a generation of lazy, pompous and self centered brats. Look at your kids today and tell us if they are not any of these
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