Matatu Owners, Police, EACC deliberate how to tackle corruption

Matatus parked in one of the streets in Kakamega town following Matatu operators' strike. [Mumo Munuve, Standard]

Matatu Owner Association has begun a campaign in Nairobi to engage various government organisations to tackle corruption on Kenyan roads.

This emerged during its first conference attended by representatives from the Ethics and Anti-corruption Commission, National Transport and Safety Authority, National Police Service and various matatus saccos.

Association chairman Albert Karakacha who organised the summit said move is the right approach to change the image of the industry.

"We are not going to tolerate corruption as the association that is why we are working very closely with anti-corruption and other organs. Today we converge so that we educate each other,” Karakacha said.

“We believe education can turn around rather than arresting the crews, which has been the case,” he added.

Karakacha said association will embark on awareness creation to enlighten the drivers on road safety with an aim to reduce the road accidents by 60 percent.

He added that the matatu sector should self-regulate on some areas which can be handled internally.

“Such forums will be held across the country so that we can fix some issues that have been linked to the sector since we are among the leading employers,” Karakacha said.

At the same time Karakacha stated that the association is coming up with a training curriculum for our crews that will change the image of the matatu sector.

Some of the notable leaders present were Nairobi County Executive Committee Member Patrick Mbogo, traffic base commanders and a representative from the Ministry of Interior.