ThrowbackThursdays: Kenyan made vehicles

Has Kenya made a name for itself in the world market as a leading manufacturer? Will it ever? Ponder on that as we take you back to a few local innovators who made the news with what cynics touted as attempts to reinvent the wheel. Futile efforts or not, they were efforts all the same, and we celebrate them.

The Nyayo Car

‘Nyayo’ had a dream to open the flood gates to motor vehicle manufacturing in the country, and took tentative steps in this venture. In 1986 Daniel Toroitich arap Moi, the then president, commissioned the University of Nairobi to develop a vehicle that would be an affordable and efficient Kenyan car. The Nyayo Pioneer prototypes were launched in 1990 but the project did not see the light of mass production allegedly due to lack of funds. The car project, denounced by MPs as a secret futile Moi project, faced ridicule for its slow speed but records indicate that on a test run, the prototypes reached 120 km/h.

Two-seater Aircraft

Four years ago, IT consultant Gabriel Nderitu Muturi captured the nations attention as he appeared on prime time news with his 40 litre engine plane. The detachable two-seater aircraft however was unable to leave the ground due to its weight. Fueled by a determined desire to construct a light weight Kenyan aircraft, Gabriel has so far constructed 10 planes but none has been able to take off. Confident in his dream, Gabriel is still at it and maintains a YouTube Channel documenting his efforts.

Helicopter

With a bit more success than Gabriel, 20 year old Onesmus Mwangi managed to fly his 7 month old helicopter 6 feet from the ground. Onesmus, a farmhand from Githunguri village in Kiambu, built the 25 kg maroon bird out of scrap material.