Can Sonko tame the raging matatu cartels?

Pulbic Service Vehicles (Matatus) block entrances of various shops along Nairobi's Luthuli Avenue. The traders owning the shops have consistently complained to the County Government of poor business and insecurity but nothing has changed. [Photo/Elvis Ogina (Nairobi July 2nd,2016]

Governor Mike Sonko’s about turn on the matatu crackdown in the city, is a boon to cartels running the capital’s transport system.

A former matatu operator and chair of Eastlands Matatu Operators Association, the governor has found himself in a spot where he has to implement rules he once went to court to fight and won.

Since 2004 when the late Transport Minister John Michuki introduced the infamous ‘Michuki Rules’ which brought sanity in the sector, no leader has tamed the matatus which have been accused of being behind city’s chaotic traffic.

Michuki ordered all Public Service Vehicles (PSVs) crew to wear uniforms, display passport photos on dashboards and install safety belts. He also ordered a scale down of passengers in small matatus to 14 and banned all PSVs from accessing the Central Business District (CBD).

Despite protests from PSV operators and initial inconvenience to commuters, the rules worked for some time until Sonko went to court in 2011 to challenge the discriminative nature of their implementation. Since then, the matatu industry has transformed itself into a cartel of sorts.

Self-regulation

Fast forward to 2017. While some argue that the governor has given the matatus a rope to hang themselves since operators have been unable to regulate themselves, the question is whether Sonko will crack the whip after his 30-day deadline elapses.

Kanoru Wambugu, the vice chair of the newly formed Nairobi Central Business District Matatu Operators, insists the self-regulation directive will work this time round.

“We want to show that we can make it so that we don’t get chased out of town,” Wambugu told Sunday Standard.

Since rescinding his decision to ban PSVs from the city centre, Sonko has been broadcasting live on his social media pages a smooth traffic flow in the CBD.  The governor has even taken it upon himself to do random inspections on the streets to monitor the situation. And of Thursday, he met representatives of hawkers and street boys after matatu owners asked him to deal with them first.

“All of us, including the larger matatu sector, are in agreement that the current chaotic situation is neither good for the public nor for those who have invested in the industry,” said the governor.

“Decongesting Nairobi will translate to more revenues for the matatu sector, while ensuring our residents move faster and more freely, to build our economy,” he said.

Sonko finds himself in a similar situation as former Governor Evans Kidero. Whatever policy he makes will also have a political implication.

Last year, Kidero backtracked on a similar order he had made on banning matatus and it is believed by giving matatus a chance to regulate themselves the new governor made a political decision.

During a meeting with operators at City Hall on Tuesday, Sonko took a swipe at the two associations long seen as the authoritative voices of the industry. Representatives of the Matatu Welfare Association (MWA) and the Matatu Owners Association (MOA) gave the meeting a wide berth.

Public talks

“I want to tell my friend Simon Kimutai (chair MOA) and the other cartel to come and let us talk in public. Even if you do a thousand press conferences, Sonko is still the governor of Nairobi and he is not going anywhere,” he said.

Dickson Mbugua, the chair MWA, has not taken the tongue lashing very well and has brought new demands.

“The governor should know these are privately owned investments. The governor cannot side with rejects in the industry and then purport to be creating a solution to the traffic crisis,” Mbugua told Sunday Standard.

“The plans he gave will not work. First of all we want the marshals he said will be introduced to be placed on the county’s payroll. We don’t want a situation where they start demanding money from us,” he said.

The MWA chair has said his association will give a comprehensive reaction to the governor’s plans next week.