Masinga mechanic innovates motorised tricycle

Samuel Mutua, a cobbler at Kithyoko market in Masinga subcounty of Machakos, was lucky to be gifted a motorised tricycle built by a local mechanic.

Mutua, aged 61, has lived with disability all his life and has been going to work three kilometres from his home with the assistance of his wife.

The old man’s wife who is blind initially pushed Mutua’s manual tricycle from their home to his workplace. But now he will comfortably go to work without the effort of his wife.

“My wife who is blind has been pushing me to work every day,” Mutua said.

Muthui Kituva, the mechanic who made and donated the motorised tricycle, said he always has love for disabled persons and has been yearning to help where he can.

Kituva said it pained him seeing how the cobbler suffered to get to work assisted by his blind wife.

 “The tricycle cost me Sh80,000 but could have cost more if I had not used local  materials,” he said.

He said the vehicle was fit for a person like the old cobbler whose legs are disabled but the hands are fine.

“The vehicle moves at a speed of up to 30km per hour and consumes very little fuel, thus it is affordable for the cobbler to maintain,” he added.

Kituva urged well-wishers to step in and help him make more vehicles to help disabled persons in the area.

Mutua was crippled after he suffered from polio having failed to be immunised.

“My parents back then did not know the importance of immunisation and I ended up paralysed in both legs after suffering from polio,” Mutua recalled.  

The father of seven said when his wife was unwell, he could not make it to work for he had no one to push him.

The cobbler who could hardly hide his joy after the donation thanked the local mechanic, saying God had used him to save him from his sufferings.

“This new means of movement is easier to use and my wife will now rest from pushing me to and from work every day,” he said as he rode around Kithyoko market.

 Mutua decried neglect by local leaders after visiting their offices to seek assistance in vain.

“I gave up knocking on leaders' doors for assistance. The kind of assistance I need is not handouts, but capital  in order for me to be self-reliant,” the cobbler said.  

He said the hard economic times had hit him as the country is battling the Covid-19 pandemic, saying he hardly makes Sh200 a day.

Nyanzwii Kiilu, a resident who was impressed by the kind gesture, said the mechanic is multi-talented and that he needs both material and moral support to achieve his dream of seeing disabled persons live a comfortable life free from stress.

“I plead with well-wishers to come out and help Kituva financially as he is just a mechanic who requires assistance to actualise his dream,” Kiilu said.

Edited by Henry Makori