On the busy highways of Uasin Gishu, Trans Nzoia, Nandi, Nakuru, Kericho and Kakamega, motorists have been noticing something unusual. Road signs that were once dusty and invisible are suddenly sparkling clean, their warnings clear again.
Behind it is not a government contractor or a county crew, but a boda boda operator from Sugoi, Turbo constituency in Uasin Gishu County, with a jerrycan of water, a rag, and a powerful story. His name is Collins Kipleting, alias Rengstar.
“Apart from cleaning road signs, I’m a boda boda operator,” Rengstar tells Uasin Gishu News.
What inspired Rengstar to clean road signs?
His mission started nine months ago, not out of employment, but out of pain.
“My cameraman was involved in a bad road accident and was taken to the ICU for days simply because the road sign was stolen, and there was a sharp bend he never knew about, and he went straight. He really suffered,” he recalls.
For six months, Kipleting watched his friend fight for his life. When he recovered, he told him: let’s go back and restore that sign. That one act became a calling. Since then, Rengstar has cleaned over 3,000 road signs. Three times a week, he fuels his motorbike and rides as far as it can take him — scrubbing, wiping, restoring.
“When dirty, they (road signs) can be misunderstood, and others aren’t visible because of dirt and can cause accidents,” he says.
But it has not been an easy ride.
“I have faced a lot of challenges from being laughed at, heavy rains, lack of fuel, and misunderstanding from some people thinking I vandalise them,” he says.
Sadly, so far no government agency has recognised him. Only well-wishers and his community, including popular content creator Arap Uria, have encouraged him. Yet he persists, because he has seen what a single sign can do.
“There has been a place it had been prone to accidents because of a missing bumps-ahead road sign, but I went and reinstalled it, and now it’s safe,” he says.
Importance of road signs
For Rengstar, a road sign is not just metal on a post. It is a life-saver. He believes it’s everyone’s responsibility to protect and use it rightfully because it saves lives.
The young man from Sugoi further notes that many signs are still missing across the region and should be replaced. What started as a one-man effort, he believes, should become a national campaign.
“This can be a national campaign to restore road signs,” he says.
He also had a message to the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA).
“I would tell them to sensitise Kenyans on the importance of road signs and give me the job too. I love it, and I’m really passionate about it.”
In a country where road accidents claim thousands of lives every year, Collins Kipleting is proving that heroism does not need a uniform or a big budget. Sometimes, it only needs a rag, a bike, and a heart that refuses to let another bend take another life.
