Basilio Kimani Njuguna, a matatu driver who returned money left in his vehicle has been rewarded for his kind gesture.
The incident dates back to September 5, 2021, where Kimani, a driver from Thika attached to Kandara Sacco Transporters picked an envelope and a laptop forgotten in his vehicle by a passenger.
The passenger reportedly boarded the matatu at the Blue Post-stage and sat at the front, next to the driver. Upon reaching his destination, he alighted and left his items in the vehicle.
It was then that the matatu driver sought to find the passenger’s ID by opening the envelope only to find Sh20,000.
Kimani took the items to the company offices with hopes that the owner would contact them.
“Since he was a stranger and I did not have his contact, I opened the envelope, hoping to find any form of identification, but I only found Sh20,000. I took the items to our Thika offices and requested the staff to call me in case the owner came looking for their items,” he said.
Two days later, a woman and a man visited the company offices inquiring about the lost items and were relieved when they found them intact.
They requested a photo with the driver and shared it on social media where it went viral with social media users sending outpouring messages to the driver for his integrity and honesty.
Kimani has thus been celebrated by the International Leadership University and commended for his acts of kindness. He received the Basilio Kimani Integrity Scholarship Endowment in his honour.
“Our slogan is ‘Leadership with Integrity. That is part of our vision and mission. We are proud of him. He has proved that there are honest people among us,” said the University Vice-Chancellor Dr Vice-chancellor Tim Kiruhi.
