Mama Mercy, wife of the driver of the ill-fated Modern Coast bus, has revealed that her husband had raised concerns regarding the safety of the bus, weeks before the grisly accident.
Speaking to the media on Monday, July 25, the woman affirmed that her husband spent hours at the garage as mechanics tried to fix the vehicle.
She noted that among the concerns he pointed out was brake failure, which reportedly led to the Sunday, July 24, crash that claimed at least 34 lives.
“He had been complaining about the state of the bus for a while now. He spent a lot of time at the garage with that bus," she stated.
The woman, who described her husband as Mzee Simba, revealed his final moments, noting that he had a lengthy conversation with their daughter before his phone went off.
"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. For the better part of the day, his phone was not going through," she noted.
Alluding to the family's financial crisis, Mama Mercy affirmed that her husband was laid off after the pandemic period.
“In the past few months since February, it has been hard for us because they have not been paid since. He used to come home from work but with no money," she reiterated.
According to the wife, she had to rush to the company's head office to confirm whether her husband was the designated driver.
An employee of the Modern Coast company, who spoke to Kenyans.co.ke, refuted the claims- stating that the bus was in good condition.
He added that the 45-seater bus underwent routine maintenance checks and was in tip-top shape.
"Those are unfounded allegations because people just talk. From our records, it was a good bus and it did not have any issues by the time it was getting on the road," he noted.
The death toll from the accident currently stands at 34, with 6 people fighting for their lives in hospital. Following the tragedy, the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) suspended operations of Modern Coast buses.
