How city cops mint millions in matatu sector

Every morning city residents rush to the nearest bus station to board Public Service Vehicles (PSVs), commonly known as matatus, to town.

But in the bustle and hustle to beat time, most of the time they are caught up in traffic as police stop matatus to collect money.

Drivers who spoke to The Standard said a lot of the time they resort to using alternative routes to avoid traffic police.

This idea, they say, causes gridlocks, as motorists cut corners to avoid tipping traffic cops on the road and often, it ranges from Sh50 to Sh100. Then, there are also instant bribes paid by motorists depending on the nature of the traffic offence.

Investigations by the Saturday Standard reveal that in some routes, there are daily, weekly and even monthly fees paid by PSV operators.

Matatu Welfare Association said the vice has led to losses that have occasioned a drop in PSV operating in Nairobi to 16,000 from 18,000.

The practice that has been evolving over the years has now been normalised in the transport sector.

Police bosses admit it exists but fault motorists for not producing evidence to sustain prosecution of errant cops.

And now investors in the industry term the practice of daytime rip-off by the officers who are expected to enforce the traffic laws.

Matatu crew and investors who spoke painted a picture of a sector that has now turned into a cash cow for officers manning various routes.

The investors claim that apart from the instant bribes on the roads, matatu Saccos are also asked to pay a certain amount on a daily and monthly basis so as to be allowed to operate smoothly.

County traffic marshals commonly known as Kanjo have also joined the fray and are stationed at various spots in the city centre.

Interviews with officials of various Saccos reveal the huge amounts of money collected by officers.

A manager in one of popular Sacco's that operates matatus plying City centre and Ngong routes revealed that the vice is deep. The route has about 10 Sacco's operating a fleet of matatus.

The official said traffic officers who are strategically stationed between the city centre all the way to Ngong demand bribes ranging between Sh2,00 to Sh, 1,000 from the public service vehicles operating the route.

“They hide on some spots and demand for a bribe, every matatu part Sh1,000 protection fee per week and those that don’t comply land in trouble,” he said.

The route has about 200 vehicles. With each matatu parting with Sh1,000 per week, it means each PSV will have lost about Sh48,000 per year.

And for the 200 vehicles, it means that the route operators lose Sh9.6 million per year. However, in addition to other miscellaneous charges, the figure goes up.

“Roughly, matatus plying Ngong road alone lose Sh104 million per year apart from the one that we pay on daily basis,” said the Sacco manager.

The effect is that indiscipline has crept back on city roads as traffic cops relaxed the traffic rules courtesy of the cash flow.

“That is why you will find some vehicles operating without necessary documents, disrespecting passengers because saccos now do what police were supposed to be doing,” said another sacco manager.

National Police Service spokesperson Bruno Shioso said the habit is unacceptable.

However, Nairobi Traffic Commandant Joshua Omukata said that the Service has been taking action against officers found collecting bribes.

He said the biggest challenge is when the public talks about corruption on the roads but don’t produce evidence.

Omukata said it would be easy to take action if the evidence is produced, stating that corruption is a serious matter.

“If you witness an officer collecting bribes, report to the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission and the Directorate of Criminal Investigations offices, or to police stations and sub-county police officers,” Omukata said.

But Ngong road is not the only route. Jogoo road has about 11 saccos, Kangundo road has five while Juja road/Dandora has six. Ongata Rongai route has eight saccos as Waiyaki way/Kikuyu route has six saccos.

Along Jogoo road, The Standard independently established that there are five spots where matatus are flagged down to give bribes.

The areas are between Donholmn stage, Hamza, Posta stage, City Stadium and OTC.

Operators said the officers stop vehicles at the various spots between 6am to 9am.

"This has now pushed PSVs to seek alternative routes to avoid being flagged down for Sh50," said a bus operator.

At OTC and St Peter's areas, the cops and County askaris scramble to get into the matatus as passengers alight.

“We part with Sh50 to Sh100 when one is flagged down by the officers on the spot. Jogoo road is ever on gridlock because PSV’s squeeze on the inner lane to avoid the cops and this also causes accidents,” a driver on the route said

An official in a known sacco plying the Kayole route with 300 vehicles claimed that they pay Sh100 one-off fee.

“An officer stationed at Donholm collecting the cash from vehicles under our sacco gets about Sh3,000 per day. In five days they collect Sh15,000 and for a month it comes to Sh60,000. In a year they collect Sh720,000 from our sacco alone," said the official.

Matatu Welfare Association is now accusing the traffic police department, of faulting them for uncontrolled extortion.

The association chairman Dickson Mbugua said the police and county askaris are robbing the PSV operators of their hard-earned income.

“A day to day operations of a PSV almost yields zero, the investments projects return, currently does not break even, leave alone anything to sustain operations. Currently, kitu kidogo demand by our law enforcers has become common on our roads countrywide,” Mbugua said.

Mbugua added that: “If you don’t comply, your vehicle is impounded and is arraigned in court with several trumped-up charges, which culminates into excess of Sh100,000 fines or sometimes being put behind bars,”

He said the culture will only be eliminated through the digitisation of instant fine payments to the Judiciary.

It also emerged that there were clandestine persons enlisted by the police to collect money discretely on behalf of the officers.

On Kangundo road, some young men were recently captured collecting the tips on behalf of the cops.

But some PSV operators have argued that the money given to the cops facilitates smooth operations.

“Corruption is deeply rooted in almost all sectors and the tip we give to police officers only enhances good relationships like normal tips in bars or hotels,” he said a sacco manager who operates a fleet plying City centre – Ongata Rongai route.

It also emerged that some matatus pay some money, about Sh100 and Sh300, to the saccos for every trip they make.

"Saccos also raise some money which they give to the cops and so it is not a big deal if one has all the requirements,” said the sacco official.

The Standard also established that several matatus operating Dandora route have opted to join Thika highway at the Alsops junction to avoid cops on the Juja junction.

“Juja road all the way to Pangani junction has about four spots where cops show up mostly from 6am to 9am that is why most of the vehicles join Thika road through Alsops,” a driver on the route told The Standard.