Gatuna border, 4.32pm. Passengers are boarding Kigali-bound Onatracom coaster. After having my documents cleared by immigration, I take my seat in the bus. 

At 5:00pm, a lady dressed in a sleeveless top and a pair of khaki shorts slides behind the steering wheel. She fastens her seatbelt and passengers whisper and murmur. Some are mesmerized and others have a God-have-mercy look on their faces. I shift to an empty seat close to her.

Men have always said lot about women drivers –how they act on impulse on the road – and their poor reversing and parking skills. My intention to sit close to this particular one was to identify some these flaws. Just in case we got an accident and I survived, I’d have a story to tell (read pin her).

By the time we reached Mu Maya (about 15-20 minutes from Gatuna), nothing terrible had happened. ‘You still have more than an hour to Kigali, idiot! I told myself.’ I asked her name. "Claudine Mukantazinda,” she said.

Within 30 minutes, we were at Rukomo. The first passenger – a middle-aged man - disembarked and extended his thanks to the driver for a smooth ride. "May you proceed with journey mercies, you’re in safe hands,” he said.

I wondered if he would have said a word had the driver been a fellow man.

As we descended down Rukomo valley, I kept an eye on the speedometer as she negotiated corners and overtaking slower vehicles. A few rows behind me, I could hear a couple discussing. ‘You men think that women are lazy and inexperienced,’ a lady was saying. ‘To tell you the truth, you actually think that reckless driving is equivalent to experience. See how gently she drives?’ The gentleman retorted that he has seen women crush cars out of panic quite often and the talk went on.

As darkness wore on shortly before Nyacyonga, it slightly drizzled. Driving at night has its challenges; it doesn’t make it easier when the surface is moist. I noticed that Claudine resorted to heavier gears and reduced acceleration. By now I was very convinced that she was professional, tried and tested.

We arrived at Nyabugogo bus terminal at 6:47pm and I told her that I’m a journalist. I requested her to tell me her story and she shyly smiled. "It’s ok as long as you get consent from by bosses,” she replied.

As I traveled home, I was imagining the phenomenon of females that spend long hours behind the steering wheel. How many more are like her? What is her day like? Do they have a ‘normal’ family life? What does it feel like for the ‘weaker sex’ to haul a bus full of passengers across the hills of this country? Is she aware of the stares she attracts? Does she hear the murmurs from people she transports?

We met three days after. Onatracom management had told me that they actually employ two female drivers and I decided to meet both of them.

Claudine Mukantazinda

Claudine is shy but speaks about cars with a passion. Born in Kicukiro, Kigali, cars have been both a hobby and an obsession since childhood.

"I became fascinated by cars at an early age. To fulfill my dream, I enrolled in a mechanical engineering school at Kavuma,” she said. It is from there that she acquired her driving skills and she has been behind the wheel since 1993.

"I joined the commercial transport as a taxi (matatu) driver. I used to ply most of the city routes – Nyamirambo, Remera, etc.

But it wasn’t until 2006 when she joined Onatracom that she started driving heavy vehicles. "I heard that there were openings. I had the class that authorized me to drive such buses, so I applied. I did a driver’s test and passed… and here I am,” smiles the mother of two who is married to a doctor.

What is it like to drive 28 passengers? "It’s normal. Most people imagine that you feel the weight but it’s like driving an ordinary car to me.” Almost admitting that she is bored with a 28-seater bus because it’s small for her; she confides that her dream is to become an international long distance driver of heavier vehicles. "I would love to do cross-border journeys in a bigger bus or even heavier trucks like a Mercedes Benz. So far my driving license permits me to do so and I’m still young,” (she winks) "I meant to say that I’m able.”

Has she ever had a life threatening experience as a driver? "No, I’ve never had an accident or got stuck in any way.” She adds that their buses are well maintained.

Ernestine Mukagihana

The first words this mother of eight uttered to me were: "You people (journalists) come, ask questions and disappear. My problem with you is that I never get to read or hear about myself in the news!” I promise to let her know when this article is out. "No! I want a copy!” I agree to her terms and we sit down for the interview.

Also known as Mama Collin amongst her peers, Mukagihana has been chauffeuring passengers at Onatracom for the last six years. But what inspired her to become a driver?

"We had a chauffeur who once crushed our car and abandoned it at the Police station. We had to pay a lot of money to get it back and when we did, I told my husband that I will start driving it myself. I learnt how to drive and I’ve never looked back.”

Both Mukagihana and Claudine say they don’t face any work-related challenges because of their gender. "What we encounter is what our male counterparts face as well. We’re paid the same amount, we ply the same routes… we are generally treated equally.”

And the passengers? "Oh, they love us so much and we’ve won the confidence of many. Some even specifically ask for our services.” (Being a government body, Onatracom - among other things - transports government workers).

So what kind of family life does she live since work starts at 5:30am and ends at 8:00pm? "There are times when we are done by 5:00pm. On such days, I spend the evening with my children. In the morning I leave when most are asleep but we catch up at night.” She adds that no woman can do their kind of work unless they have a supportive husband. Her husband is also a driver. "He helps me a lot with the children,” she says.

To emphasize the role of a supportive husband in the line of duty, Mukagihana gives an example of a lady whom she once encouraged to become a driver. "We went for driving tests of different vehicle categories and she passed. But towards the end, her husband told her that he couldn’t allow her to have a job whereby she’d come home after him. ‘If I ever get home before you, never dare to come,’ he warned her. The woman had to save her marriage.”

She observes that women are the backbone of most families in this country, if not the whole of Africa. "There are thousands of women struggling to support families yet they have (driving) talent. I urge them to explore their inner selves and unleash their potential.”

Major Gakuba Theodore is the Director of Transport at Onatracom. He says the company assesses its drivers periodically and the women are doing great. "One of them is licensed to drive the big buses and we trust her.

Those ladies ply long routes… Ngororero, Nyagatare, etc. They have enough experience and we treat them equally as men.” He adds that their husbands also keep in touch with him.

Hajjat Muhayimpundu Maryam

She is the founder and CEO of Fidelity Express, a transport agency that runs a fleet of 10 coasters. She started driving in 1995 and after two years, she was already wheeling a mini bus from Kigali to her hometown of Huye (Butare).

"Apart from driving to Huye and doing town service around Kigali, I used to do cross-border journeys hauling a cargo-filled Fuso truck to Uganda, Burundi… and other countries in this region.” And what do the passengers think about her. "They know we (ladies) don’t use drugs so they trust me more.”

So does she feel she has reached ‘up there’ yet? "Not really. I co-own Fidelity Express with two other people.

Even then, we have hired coasters among the 10. The journey ahead is still long but I’m so far happy with this achievement.”

Asked if she’s grooming a successor, the mother of five says her eldest child is now 21 years and still a student. "I’m not sure now.”

Well, to the men with a chauvinistic mentality about women, welcome to the era where you’re most likely to be wheeled by commercial women drivers as virtually all bus operators in the country employ women as drivers. And so far, no woman has disappointed.