CONTENTS | ANB-BIA HOMEPAGE | WEEKLY NEWS
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Kenya |
TRANSPORT
In July 1999, President Daniel arap Moi directed that the Transport Licensing
Board (TLB)
regulations must be implemented. Matatu (Public Service Van)
operators then went on strike, paralysing transportation. Although the
government finally won the day, Kenyans are left wondering what has really
been achieved by way of improving public transport
TLB requirements include the purchase of a road licence; purchase of a Public Service Vehicle (PSV) Licence; matatu touts must be replaced by local authority employees; drivers and conductors must wear identity badges; vehicles must follow allocated routes.
Matatu operators are not happy, neither are the touts who get customers for the operators. «We shall not be moved,» they say and they have so far maintained their stand — literally — in that they still operate from their own «staging posts». Matatu operators support the touts, saying that replacing them with local authority employees will deny them their livelihoods and slow down business.
«What does the government want?» asks one tout who would only give his name as “Nyamboke”. «They’ve forced us to take the good conduct certificate; they’ve brought in some insurance stickers which we must display to indicate that we’re in order regarding regulations. And now that we’re “clean”, they want us off the streets!» Another tout, Erick Omondi, says he’s been on the job for fifteen years and has been able to see to the education of four of his younger brothers with the money he’s earned.
The problem of touts is not so clear-cut. True. There are genuine conductors who check that everything is O.K. re: the way the public conveyance is run. But others appear to live well above their means judging from their attire. How can they possibly afford such expensive clothes? In addition, a good number of them have managed to arouse the hatred of commuters by their behaviour. For example, your luggage may be grabbed and taken to a vehicle which does not go to your destination. And some of them use language that embarrasses passengers, especially those travelling with their families.
During the matatu operators’s strike, private car owners took over as transport operators. Quite illegally, but in order to disguise their activities, they displayed red «funeral» ribbons pretending they were taking people to and from funerals. Some matatu operators displayed signs indicating that they were on private hire. Those who were caught by the strikers, narrowly escaped with their lives. Some people were compelled to use wheelbarrows and handcarts to take patients to hospital.
Ironically, opposition Members of Parliament who had urged Kenyans to support the strike by walking to work on 7 July 1999, were themselves driven to Parliament in luxury cars!
Many people agreed it was time the booming but unruly matatu industry was checked. An employee of the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute had this to say: «Matatus have been left to milk the general public for too long and the time has come for the government to regulate their activities and instill discipline among the operators and the touts.»
Most of the TLB requirements are sound, only a few appearing a little sinister such as where the government allocates to itself the role of laying down insurance guidelines for matatu operators. Perhaps this is because many insurance firms keep their distance from the matatu industry. Indeed, even the overseas re-insurance firms that cover local insurance firms, insist on being told in advance whether matatus are part of the portfolio.
The traffic police are now obliged to see that the TLB regulations are obeyed, and to check on the following: That the PSV owners have obtained the badges for their drivers and conductors from the Registrar of Motor Vehicles; that matatus and buses do not exceed the speed limits; that standing passengers found inside a vehicle carrying excess commuters are arrested and charged in court. (Perhaps this is why when an overloaded vehicle approaches a police road block, the standing passengers are told to squat!); that all PSVs plying the roads must be roadworthy and not carry excess passengers and luggage; that routes allocated to the matatus are adhered to.
Has the situation improved? — On 29 March 2000, 75 people died in an accident involving two buses near Kericho (Rift Valley Province). One driver had lost control after avoiding a pothole at a high speed, resulting in a head-on collision with the other vehicle.Most of the dead were in the second bus while the first was overloaded. On 20 April 2000, 69 people lost their lives in an accident involving a bus and two lorries on the Nairobi-Mombasa highway. The bus was sandwiched between the lorries as it tried to overtake and was literally torn into two.
It’s probably because of such huge numbers of casualties that insurance companies will have nothing to do with the matatu industry!
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