I travelled to my home village this last weekend and I swear I spent the entire three hour journey praying.
While I knew that I would be traveling in a skorokoro, I never imagined that I would ride in a truck that would be literally falling apart inside, without rearview mirrors and indicators.
I hired a truck to transport thatching grass for my mother from our farm to our home village which is almost 120kms away.
I spoke to the truck owner and concluded the deal prior to the journey without giving much thought about the state of the vehicle.
What I knew though was that it was one of those tried and tested trucks that keep moving despite their bad shape, in any case these are the type of vehicles that are used to transport things such as thatching grass, cattle, quarrystone and river sand.
Anyway all I was concerned about was that the grass would fit and that I would eventually deliver it before the rainy season so my mother can repair her leaking kitchen roof.
I was taken aback when the driver told me that he was not expecting me to travel with him and his boy, he actually tried to convince me to remain behind and to trust him to deliver, I refused.
There was no way I could trust a stranger like that.
I later realised why he didn’t want an outsider inside his car.
The car had no mirrors and he (the driver) relied on his right hand boy to keep peeping through the window to tell him if there was no car behind and that all was well at the back, my jaw dropped.
Luckily there were very few cars on the road. I also wondered how the cops would allow such a car to be on the road, yes they are corrupt and all about making money but they should have some decency to impound such vehicles..
Anyway the speed we were travelling in was not that bad and fortunately the skorokoro had brakes but I still kept praying for safe arrival and to at least get home before sunset as I was sure it had no lights. I was right!
Thank God my prayers were answered as we arrived home safe though dusty as the truck had an opening on the floor which freely let in dust as the last 15 kms of the journey were on a dusty, bumpy road.
There was no way I could make my return trip on the truck the following morning so I used a bus instead.
On the way back, with the mind now settled, my attention was drawn to dilapidated colonial buildings that are still common features yet eyesores at the local business centre and wondered why they were still standing.
