Super Metro Company Limited is considered by many as the best matatu Sacco operating in Nairobi and its environs.
The bus company has been hailed for its organised transit operations and well-maintained vehicles.
A resident of Nairobi will never miss the long meandering queues of people waiting to board the Super Metro buses from both sides of Moi Avenue and Tom Mboya Street at the National Archives.
The transport company operates along Kikuyu Route 105, Thika Road, Juja 236 to Makongeni 237 and Ngong to Nairobi CBD Route 111.
In this segment, Nairobileo.co.ke takes a look at the man behind the success of Nairobi's beloved Sacco, Nelson Mwangi who has been the company's chairman since 2013.
Speaking to a local daily in 2021, Mwangi, a Form Four dropout, revealed that he together with 13 other directors started the company with an aim of changing the perceived notion of recklessness and unruly behaviour that had been associated with the transport industry.
They formulated clear distinct rules that ensured sanity in how their company and its employees conducted business.
They conducted interviews for drivers and conductors and those that excelled were first handed a three-month probation period after which their performances were reviewed.
The company to date maintains a thorough recruitment and evaluation process.
"Most drivers feel super metro is a school because of the rules and regulation. Drivers and conductors make an application, they bring all requirements and we set a date for an interview.
"We don't just handpick them. They must have all the requirements," Mwangi stated.
Employees caught up in disciplinary issues have to face a panel which in turn decided whether or not they will stay in the company or leave.
"Maybe a conductor has overcharged, been rude to a customer, ferrying excess passengers or when a driver has been found overlapping, driving under the influence etc, we take action against all that.
"We believe in giving the best customer services," he continued.
Mwangi describes his journey to the top as 'God's favour'. Though he passed his exams with flying colours, his parents were not able to cater for his school fees, hence, he had to drop out.
"I was brought up in a very poor family. Coming to Nairobi to look for a job was not easy and at one point I had to roast maize in Eastlands near Makadara law courts."
His first job was in the hospitality industry as a lift attendant. He did his job so perfectly that by the end of his career in the industry, he had climbed up the ladder to become an operations manager.
Mwangi bought his first PSV vehicles while still working in the hospitality industry and ran them on the side. He would later quit his job and venture fully into the transport industry.
"I owe everything I have to God," he said.
Mwangi has rejected numerous appeals by members of the public to join politics, stating that he would not mix it with business.
"I am a businessperson who believes in doing business without mixing it with politics because I don't want to lose the focus. I want Super Metro to outlive us," he concluded.
