Only 8,000 matatus have complied with law

By Cyrus Ombati and Maureen Abwao

Kenya: Only a handful of matatus were on roads across the country as the new tough rules aimed at reducing road carnage and streamlining public transport sector came into effect.

By Tuesday, about 8,320 matatus out of the 100,000 had been approved by the Motor Vehicle Inspection Unit to operate countrywide.

Some operators had announced they would strike to protest the new rules. This was after a court declined to halt the coming to effect of the new laws.

The rules have affected thousands of commuters who rely on the matatus for their daily commuting.

Motorbike operators took advantage of the situation and hiked fares.  The few matatus that had complied with the rules hiked fares as well. 

Director of Motor Vehicle Inspection Unit Jared Wangai noted that so far they had recorded an increase in the numbers from 6,653 vehicles that had been inspected over the weekend to more than 8,000 vehicles.

He also noted that in order to curb the shortage of the speed governors in the market, the Government has approved six more suppliers of the gadgets, bring the number of the authorised dealers to 22.

Traffic Commandant Charlton Mureithi said preliminary findings had shown that most matatus had opted to be off the road.

“We will implement the laws as required but we can see many of them are off the roads,” said Mr Mureithi.

Mr Wangai said some of the vehicles had fitted old model speed governors, which prompted his officers to turn them away.

The rules come into effect as schools close for the holidays and workers in towns start travelling upcountry for Easter.

Among others, under the new rules introduced by the National Transport and Safety Authority, all public service vehicles must belong to a Sacco that has at least 30 vehicles.