Matatu Association opposes proposed regulations on public transport
Matatu Association Secretary-General Wilfred Bosire has opposed the proposed regulations aimed at streamlining the chaotic public transport system in Nairobi.
Speaking to the press on Thursday, May 22, 2025, Bosire argues that the implementation of a number of the proposed regulations would be difficult and that the laws are ill-intentioned.
“You cannot control the movement of people, more so when you are picking passengers away from the main termini. So, that is going to be very difficult,” Bosire said.
“We feel like that document is ill-intentioned, and we don’t think that it is proper to have such a proposal.”
Ill-intentioned
The new rules aim to ban touting that has become so common in matatu termini. The regulations will also require passengers to queue orderly to board matatus and that the vehicles be fitted with cashless payment systems- a proposal that the matatu association has vehemently opposed.
“Cashless payment systems are not easy to implement because the drivers and conductors of public service vehicles are given targets to meet, yet there is corruption which thrives in cash payments,” Bosire observes.
The new rules will also see the County government of Nairobi limit the number of vehicles plying various routes as part of a wider plan to decongest the city.
“We will not allow these at all. For instance, what will they do with other buses if they enforce this thing of only allowing a few buses to operate on a certain route? We have taken loans to acquire these buses, and they are not helping us to pay the loans,” Mike Muchiri from Forward Travellers Sacco told People Daily.
School-kids free transport
In the proposed rules, school-going children will be exempted from paying bus fare in matatus. Similarly, the matatus caught flouting the new regulations will be fined between Ksh50,000 and Ksh100,000, and could have their operation licences revoked by the county.
Nairobi County Director of Mobility Moses Kuiyaki says the new rules must be implemented if order is to be restored in the city, despite the strong opposition from matatu operators.
“These regulations are aimed at restoring order and dignity within the Central Business District (CBD). We have realised that most of these matatus have a bad habit of making almost every part of this city a picking and dropping point. That one will not be allowed again. They must follow the law and order,” Kuiyaki said.
“We cannot keep on repeating the same thing over and over again. We want Nairobi to be orderly.”
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Arnold Ngure
General reporter with a bias for crime reporting, human interest stories and tech. Reach out via: [email protected]
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