I got into a taxi and he asked me to guess how long he had it. I could not but it looked aged. He had it for 25 years, and how much does an old one cost? About 300,000 Kenya shillings I told him that in Kenya, I would give him shs 50,000 and even at that time, it would be a huge favor.

But for some reason, the cars are well maintained, they dont smoke or make lots of noise like some of the junks on our roads, I guess the service is well done.

There was one intriguing thing in Addis, the Matatus looked new while the taxis looked old. Why? When you buy bigger cars meant for public transport, you pay minimal duty; when you buy a personal car, you pay 300% duty.....ouch.....

So the matatus and buses are fairly better looking than the taxis....

In Gatundu, my home district, we used to have these vans. I recall when I was in high school, you would get into one of these "face me" and stare at the person seated opposite to you until you start thinking you know the person.

So, we named the vans "ndakuonete ku?" which loosely translates to "where have I seen you?" or in other words "you look familiar"

I thought the vans were in a museum until I went to Addis, and they overload just like the ones we used to have. I remember as a kid you had to stand and hold on the to the metal pole over your head and as for the people seated, it was hard to know which body belonged to which head.

It was nice remembering the days....

I am hoping this will mean no more crazy traffic during the heads of state summit. The building, sponsored by China, will have a hotel, conference and AU offices.

This is good, but am sure security will force some leaders to insist at staying at the Sheraton.

I am hoping this will mean no more crazy traffic during the heads of state summit. The building, sponsored by China, will have a hotel, conference and AU offices.

This is good, but am sure security will force some leaders to insist at staying at the Sheraton.

That importation of second hand cars is not a very big business.

Ethiopia has no port, the goods come through Djibouti, Port Sudan and Somaliland.

Am sure the port of Mombasa will get business if we can sort out road issues.... The great North road is mid way..