Matatus hike prices as university students block Langata road

NAIROBI, KENYA: A section of Multi Media University students Tuesday morning blocked Magadi Road, Nairobi following Sunday’s accident in which four people were killed.

The students said one of the victims was a student at the university. The students used boulders to block the busy road forcing many commuters to trek to their destinations. Police engaged the students in cat and mouse games in efforts to disperse them in vain.

The students said they would march to the scene of the accident along Langata Road to register their anger.

Few matatus that were operating along the busy route hiked their fares.

The angry students said Cynthia Akoth, met her death on Sunday when the city-bound bus veered off the road and overturned along the Langata Road in Nairobi, killing four and injuring six others.

She was a First Year pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Applied Communication. On Monday, the National Transport and Safety Authority deregistered the sacco in which the said matatu belongs.  

The authority advised the public to avoid boarding these vehicles as they shall be impounded if found operating contrary to the Authority’s directive.

“Following several violations of the National Transport and Safety (Public Service Regulations) 2014 by Ongata Line Company Limited and consequent meetings with the Company regarding the same, the Authority has hereby deregistered the Company as a Public Service Operator,” said a statement from the authority.

There had been complaints and criticism that NTSA was not taking action on the operators even after protests from some of the passengers on the route. The matatu crew had been accused of being reckless on the road.

We could not get a comment from the sacco officials on the move by the regulator.

NTSA is mandated to regulate operations of PSVs.

Lang’ata Road has several black spots, where fatal accidents occur nearly every week, according to police records.

At least three buses from the Rongai route have overturned on the notorious road since June 2015 raising concerns on their safety record. Passengers using the route usually complain that their drivers are reckless and have been calling on NTSA to take action.

Kenyans on social media shifted the blame on NTSA for the accident, saying the agency had failed to rein in on the buses.

In August, two pupils from Victorian Academy, Meru died and several others were injured after a bus ferrying them to the music festival overturned on Lang’ata Road.