Barely three months ago, this column berated the government for being comatose as the Matatu sector descended into complete anarchy. This stark reality was demonstrated when a Super Metro Sacco tout nonchalantly threw out a man from a moving vehicle without a second thought or any compunction because he was short Sh30 for fare. The victim, Gilbert Thuku Kimani, died on the spot. He has since been buried.

The matatu regulator, National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA), has blithely ignored all the red lights that have been flashing in the sector for years now.

The Super Metro crisis hit them like a thunderbolt. For a few days, a stunned NTSA seemed paralysed. An outpouring of public outrage jerked them into action. They suspended the operating licence of Super Metro.

To NTSA’s credit, all attempts by the obviously well-connected sacco with heavy financial muscle to intimidate them through belligerence and unapologetic behaviour have been ignored. Some defiant Super Metro matatus were stopped by police and impounded. Super Metro is off the roads – for now.

A subsequent inspection report by NTSA on Super Metro matatus reads like a lawbreaker’s manual. The report accuses Super Metro of operating vehicles with expired inspection certificates and road service licenses, disabled speed limiters, overspeeding, and non-adherence to labour laws. The operator is required to submit 42 of its drivers for retesting by the regulator.

And this is the report on the Sacco that has earned a public reputation for discipline and good customer service. One shudders to think what a similar inspection of other saccos, especially those known for their notoriety, would look like.

This crisis has damaged Super Metro’s hitherto great public standing. Not to imagine the revenue lost every day they remain suspended. And they continue worsening the situation by defiance and pushback. The public expects contrition and compassion, not the current chest-thumping. An innocent man is dead, for crying out loud!

Despite raising a hue and cry, Super Metro has duly started submitting its 500-strong fleet to NTSA’s vehicle inspection centre in Nairobi’s Industrial Area.

NTSA should utilise the opportunity brought about by Super Metro’s crisis to crack down on the sector.

The impunity that once ruled the sector has returned. Standing passengers are back on all routes. Seat belts have disappeared. Matatus are now painted in garish colours in complete defiance of PSV licence regulations, have tinted windows, and are driven in complete darkness.

Blaring music and lewd videos are now par for the course, while there is a fierce competition among matatus on who plays the loudest music, and whose strobe lights provide the weirdest psychedelic effect. The sector has literally gone to the dogs! On NTSA’s watch.

The Super Metro crisis has jolted some players into action. Metro Trans, another large player in the sector, suspended its services for one day to sensitise and train its drivers, conductors and staff in customer service.

These are the foot soldiers of the matatu sector, and determine how passengers are treated. Too many of these drivers, conductors (makanga) and stage marshals are completely rogue!

The courts must keep on sending the message again and again as they have done in such cases previously – this behaviour will not be tolerated. Several matatu drivers and makangas are cooling their heels in prison, serving life sentences for pushing passengers out of moving vehicles. The public expects nothing less when this case reaches the courts.

In December 2024, this column asked the Cabinet Secretary for Roads and Transport, Davis Chirchir, to rein in the matatu sector. He blithely ignored and went about his business.

A breadwinner is dead due to the action of a rogue matatu crew and, if one may add, inaction on the part of the Cabinet Secretary. Will the Cabinet Secretary and NTSA act decisively to bring discipline back to the sector, or will they wait for another unfortunate death at the hands of rogue matatu crews to jerk the regulator awake?

—  gathukara@gmail.com