Matatu Madness: Ongata Line Edition

It is sad when life is lost, especially when it could have been avoided. For the past day or so, the Matatu Sacco, Ongataline Trans has been in the news. This is due to an accident on Lang’ata Road involving one of their matatus which claimed four lives and injured six people. It is not the first time this has happened. Earlier in the year, a matatu belonging to the same Sacco was involved in an unfortunate accident at the Cooperative University which killed students and injured others. These two cases are not the only ones involving matatus that ply the Ongata Rongai to Nairobi, it is an ongoing problem perpetrated by reckless drivers that treat the pimped up rides like their personal drag race vehicles. 

This impunity only exists because of alleged ‘God-fathers’ and corruption on Kenyan roads. But these are not the only enabling parameters for this kind of behavior; the biggest culprits are the passengers themselves. When I was a resident of Ongata Rongai, I used these matatus and witnessed first-hand the machinations of the hippest matatus in town. 

The passengers, me included, would wait for the flashy and fast matatus at the stage in the morning and in the evenings. Never mind that the fare was high and that there were cheaper and readily available options. I had even gotten in the habit of looking at who was driving said vehicles to determine whether his ability to overlap or find panya routes (alternative roads) on the notoriously clogged Magadi Road was proven. For those whose notoriety on the road was legendary, their matatus would be hot commodities, charging as much as double for the ride. 

At the time, I would never admit that the drivers’ reckless behavior was scary at times with near misses, angry hoots and police stops being the norm. I however liked the thrill, the speed and the undeniable cool emerging from said matatus bestowed on you. Every so often, we would come across accidents caused by the matatus but the choice between a probable accident and a long boring journey seemed like a fair trade off. 

The rides were not smooth. You would get a driver pushing 80kph at night on a thin strip by the side of the road littered with rocks, valleys and potholes even during the rainy season. I have the sneaking suspicion that some of these drivers were in a drug fueled haze brought on by an affinity for ‘muguka’ and various other good time inducers. 

Now as I see, yet another loss of life occasioned by these drivers with such nicknames as ‘Kauka’ and ‘Ambulance’, I wonder if the decision to tinker with my life was a wise choice. 

Who is to blame for the culture? The NTSA for their selective amnesia, the passengers for enabling these matatus or the drivers who fly up and down Magadi Road like it is a private road? 

On Tuesday, the NTSA probably just to save face, cancelled Ongata Line Sacco licence but me thinks this is too little too late. It is not that they were not aware of the impunity; they just chose to turn a blind eye, probably because some guy was lining his pockets with bribe money. 

In any case, sanity will probably prevail for a few days, and when the public moves on to a new story, the matatus will be back to their old tricks. The users will moan about these matatus and yet still board them, pay exorbitant fares to and from Ongata faster.

After all, aren’t Kenyans legendary for their selective amnesia?