Forty two-year old Paul Mulinge is a driver of a special kind.
For the last ten years, he has been cruising in a Mercedes Benz limousine hearse shuttling fallen heroes or waheshimas to their final resting place. He works with Lee Funeral Home.
Throughout his job as a hearse driver, he has become accustomed to the beaming lenses of cameras as he drives fallen washemiwas to their final destination.
Mulinge chauffeured former First Lady Lucy Kibaki, businessman Jacob Juma, former Chief of General Staff Jackson Mulinge, Nyeri governor Nderitu Gachagua, former minister John Michuki and former Vice President George Saitoti to their final resting place.
Others are Internal Security Assistant Minister Orwa Ojode, marathoner Samuel Wanjiru, politicians William Ole Ntimama, Soita Shitanda and Njenga Karume.
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He says the job comes with a lot of responsibility given the kind of bigwigs he chauffeurs though they cannot breathe anymore.
“It is a moment that needs diligence and understanding. You have mourning relatives in the car, a convoy of police vehicles, outriders with blaring sirens, the media, saluting police officers and mourners struggling to have a glimpse of the proceedings. I must be the most responsible driver in that procession,” Mulinge told Standard Digital Entertainment (SDE).
The Limousine ((KAW 091V) which has been around for over 10 years, cost over 10 million. It costs about Sh65, 000 to hire it for a day.
“Distance and number of days will determine the price, but it is true the limousine is what many clients want even though we have other hearses,” Lee Funeral Home’s Chief Operating Officer Paul van Brussel said.
For the time he has worked with Lee Funeral, Mulinge has never had any accident or mechanical breakdown. He says he ensures everything is in the right working condition.
The speed at which he drives is determined by escort vehicles because he has to arrive at the burial site before the President or his Deputy in the event they are attending the funeral.
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