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Transport was paralysed in Thika, Kiambu county as most public transport vehicles avoided the Nairobi route for fear of being caught up in yesterday’s demonstrations.

Drivers of Public Service Vehicles (PSV) plying the Thika-Nairobi route complained of low business as majority of passengers opted against travelling to the capital city owing to fears of attacks from the demonstrators.

Speaking at various bus stages, the drivers from Chania and Kenya Mpya saccos told journalists that most commuters moving towards Nairobi were fearing a possibility of criminals taking advantage of the protests to rob them of their goods and valuables.

While some advocated for the mass demonstrations to keep the government of the day in check, others called on the opposition team to give the government more time to put its house in order saying that the current administration was still young to facilitate abrupt recouping of the economy.

Security purposes

Alex Mbaria, a Chania Sacco driver stated that unlike other days when Thika and Nairobi towns are usually busy, yesterday looked like a holiday as most commuters avoided movements for security purposes. “Most of our customers decided to stay at home to avoid confrontations between them, protesters and police. It’s a wholly less busy day for us,” said Mbaria.

While some drivers cheered the opposition on saying their action will push the government to lower the cost of living,  that they described as unbearable, others called on the opposition to retreat and allow President William Ruto’s government to strategize.

“We are happy to have the opposition taking a bold step to push the government to action. Without this, we don’t expect food prices to go down,” another driver said. “We need to give this government time. It’s less than one-year-old in office and we don’t expect them to streamline everything in a day. Every Kenyan should go back to their business so that we can build this economy together,” Michael Mwangi, another driver stated.