Meet the former street boy that has caught Kenyan’s attention with his unique tuk tuks

barasa velma

June 29, 2018 4:39 PM

Very innovative.

Fredrick Onyango, a former street boy, has been attracting attention for his unique remodeling skills on tuk tuks.

Onyango has dedicated his time to remodel tuk tuks to fashion animals such as eagles and dinosaurs which he attributes to his “imagination and historic mind” – seeing that he has never received any formal education.

“I was born in Kisumu but came to Nairobi more than 10 years ago. I went straight to the tough street life before honing my innovative skills,” he told The Standard.

So where did he learn how to build like that?

While on the streets, he perfected his skills through dismantling old computers.

How much did he spend to remodel the tuk tuks?

Onyango used 250,000 shillings to renovate the dinosaur tuk tuk and pimped the interior and exterior with dinosaur stickers.

He further spruced it up with LED TVs and snake lights.

For security, he installed CCTV cameras.

As for the eagle tuk tuk, it also carries eight passengers and cost him 200,000 shillings to renovate.

“I decided to put seven wheels for both rides to make it comfortable and to consume less fuel. Having lived and worked near garages when I was a street boy, I bought materials gradually.”

Benefits

Onyango’s innovations have become so popular that he regularly gets other gigs outside his normal transportation such as in weddings and giving kids rides to recreational parks.

The recreational park rides rage from 100 shillings to 2000 shillings. For party events Onyango, leases his tuk tuk for 5000 shillings a day.

As for weddings, he charges 15000 shillings per day.

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