City matatus’ impunity continues to breed deaths, suffering

When Deputy Inspector-General of Police Edward Mbugua’s daughter Nelly Waithera was crushed mid-last month in Nairobi’s city centre by a reversing matatu, sad tales of how unruly matatus run the roost in Nairobi were rekindled.

The late Waithera, 25, was crossing the junction of Tom Mboya Street and Murang’a Lane at 8am when she was sandwiched between a matatu that was reversing and a stationary one.

She suffered serious injuries to her head, chest and waist and died while being treated at Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH).

But this is not an isolated case of matatu impunity in the capital that has led to deaths and injuries, especially to pedestrians.

In 2015, University of Nairobi student Cecilia Njeri Gicheha’s life was brutally cut short by two matatus jostling for passengers on Moi Avenue near the Tuskys Beba Beba stage.

Eerily similar to Ms Waithera’s case, a matatu plying the Kasarani/Mwiki route was trying to squeeze into a space while reversing and hit her as she tried to cross the road.

The second matatu squashed her further and she died two hours later at Guru Nanak Hospital.

Matatu madness in Nairobi is an age-old problem that has resulted in untold suffering for many Nairobi residents.

From being driven on the wrong side and parking on pavements, outside business entrances and undesignated stages to annexing reserved parking slots and those designated for taxis and causing noise pollution, matatus are a law unto themselves.

Injuries, businesses having to relocate and untimely deaths have been the price paid by city residents going about their day-to-day business.

Activist and politician Boniface Mwangi recently touched off a debate over matatu madness, citing Valley Road, where matatus had created an extra lane.

He asked the government to deploy traffic police with cameras to document evidence and give them a commission from court fines.

“When will this impunity end? Let’s bribe the police to do their job,” he charged.

JesseKenya pointed an accusing finger at the police and the courts for perpetuating the vice.

“We post pictures and videos on here every day and the only time the police act is when an incident trends. Those cameras will be used to extort you. You will go to court and the video evidence won’t be produced. The same thing already happens with the speed gun tickets,” he said.

Another Twitter user said the same behaviour has been witnessed on sections of James Gichuru Road while another reported the same madness on Outer Ring Road, accusing the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) and police of being unwilling to take action.

“It is everywhere. Every day they turn Westlands into a one-way road with their overlapping and blocking of roads. Complaints since 2018 have been ignored,” said another Twitter user.

But others blamed the vice on drivers, saying they perpetuate the practice by bribing officers to turn a blind eye to their offences.

“The government cannot teach its people morals. It goes down to individuals to do the right thing. No government can police everything.”

So brazen are matatu operators that they do not care what happens as they have a stranglehold on Nairobi County officers, traffic police and some court officials, often bribing their way to freedom.

A 2020 NTSA report showed that only 272 matatu saccos are registered to operate in the city. But 420 unregistered saccos are plying their trade in the capital.

Central Ward MCA Daniel Ngegi has repeatedly raised concerns over the proliferation of illegal matatu saccos’ pick-up and drop-off stages across the city centre.

He wrote to NMS Director-General Maj-Gen Mohamed Badi over the matter.

Mr Ngengi said that on Tom Mboya Street, Azuri, Surmount, Nazige and Embakasi saccos have displaced taxis that have operated in the area for 30 years while Circular Sacco has recently begun operating at Commercial, outside a Tuskys Supermarket.

Five other saccos, including Compliant, Madiwa, Jesmat, Travelmatt and MMOG, have also been fingered for illegally operating at a junction on Sheikh Karume Road, blocking access to shops.

Zuri and Genesis saccos are said to have displaced taxis from their loading zone.

On the frontage of Church House on Moi Avenue, Rongai Sacco has also been listed as having allegedly been allocated the stage illegally.

Mr Ngengi said the issuing of illegal stages has been turned into a cash cow by county officials, who rake in millions from the illicit practice by authorising PSVs to drop off and pick up passengers in restricted zones.

“This unfortunate scenario is to blame for vehicular gridlock, insecurity, noise pollution and the generally poor state of the city centre,” he said.

Taxi operators and affected businesses have also written to City Hall and NMS over the problem but nothing has happened.

GiiV Realty Ltd, the property management company for Odeon Building on Tom Mboya Street, complained to City Hall on March 9, 2020 that the sidewalk and taxi parking area outside the building had been allocated to Zuri Sacco buses plying route 44.

They said businesses were not invited to offer their views before the allocation was made; business owners and customers of tenants were harassed by unruly drivers and touts scrambling for passengers; and hooting and fumes from matatus were causing noise and air pollution.

“Another bus sacco has been added right in front of the shops, restaurant and building entrance, making congestion in the area unbearable. The area is wholly unsuitable for a bus stage,” said GiiV manager Hildah Ng’ang’a.

“Consequently, we hereby demand that you revoke the allocation and also address the other pavement and roadside allocations to big buses for unplanned, non-designed designated stages and loading zones.”

Next to complain was City Health Hospital, at Odeon Building, writing to City Hall on March 10, 2020, objecting to the allocation of the sidewalk as a stage to Zuri Sacco and saying the space had earlier been allocated to them as parking for ambulances.

Dr Cyrus Gakuo Karuga, the hospital’s director, complained about unruly drivers and touts constantly harassing patients; noise and fumes from matatus putting patients at risk; and congestion as a security concern with patients and pedestrians always in fear of being mugged or run over by unruly matatus during rush hours as they compete for space and passengers or when recklessly reversing.

“Consequently, we hereby demand that you revoke the allocation to Zuri Sacco buses,” said Mr Karuga. Nothing was done.

Smothers Ltd, owners of Smothers Restaurant, joined the fray, writing to City Hall on March 11, 2020, protesting about the same problem.

They said matatus had blocked the entrance to a restaurant by the same name at the building; that congestion was hindering the free movement of clients and pedestrians, discouraging clients and leading to serious loss of business; and that there was noise and air pollution from hooting and matatu fumes.

“All the above is already ongoing and bringing our business to a halt by the day,” the letter said.

With no action taken by City Hall, the restaurant relocated to a new building on Kimathi Lane.

It was then the turn of the Kenya Taxi Cab Association, which operates at Odeon Cinema, Tom Mboya Street, Latema Junction and Moi Avenue service lane, to also complain about the matatu madness.

The group wrote to NMS, City Hall and the county assembly on March 13, 2020 and July 10, 2020, addressing the issue to the county government and MCAs.

In the letter, the organising secretary Job Nzioka said it had become normal for matatus to be allocated lay-bys without considering other stakeholders and any complaints raised with county officials were never acted upon.

“The allocation of the [lay-bys] are not supported by authorising letters from the relevant authorities. This leaves us with no doubt that there are matatu cartels working with county government authorities,” Mr Nzioka claimed.

But the letters failed to elicit any response, with the association saying that any complaint lodged with county government officials is never acted upon and on enquiry, the relevant offices confirm verbally the action to be taken but nothing ever happens.

[email protected]