With fares of matatus hiked up commuters are still worried about their fate as to the new transport rules. However there is a drama going on at the top as authorities supposed to maintain the new regulations without giving reasons are disappearing on the job.
Since the start of the week, an NTSA boss has been conspicuously absent at press conferences attended by top Government officials over the enforcement of Michuki Rules.
A source told the newspaper that Mr Meja travelled out of the country last weekend and yet he was supposed to steer the agency in the crackdown against rogue matatus.
“Why should he travel knowing what was lying ahead of us as a team especially the enforcement of the rules? It is amazing how some of us make decisions,” a colleague of his said.
Where is the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) Director General Francis Meja? This is the question his colleagues in Government are asking.
“Effective Monday, 12th November 2018, any PSV vehicle, drivers, SACCOs/Transport companies, passengers and other relevant parties that fail to comply with the provisions of the NTSA Act and the Traffic Act will be firmly dealt with in accordance with the law,” said the government in a statement.
The battle lines were drawn with the Federation of Public Transport Operators declaring their members will pull their vehicles off the roads in protest against the traffic guidelines they are required to comply with.
On the other hand, the government maintained there is no turning back in the quest to restore sanity on the roads. It will be the return of the “Michuki rules”, which appear to have been abandoned, causing the country to slide back to the rogue days on the roads.
Thousands of commuters were stranded countrywide as the operators’ associations ganged up in a coordinated boycott.
However an hour-long meeting between Government agencies and operators of public service vehicles which saw the setting up of a team to address problems in the transport sector ended the strike on the same day. The operators apologized to the public for the inconvenience caused by the strike.
The Matatu Owners Association estimates that there are some 200,000 registered matatus in the country with 20,000 of them in Nairobi alone. But NTSA had only licensed 53,629 in 2017.
According to the Matatu Owners Association, there are up to 439,000 crew in the Matatu sector who are paid on a daily basis, meaning that dependents could be weighed down by the hard economic times without such an income.
The industry generates over Sh 200 billion annually in revenue with 70 per cent of Kenyans relying on public transport. Last year, earnings from road transport traffic hit Sh 349 billion according to MOA statistics.
Do you think if the NTSA bosses have started running away already, the return of Michuki rules will survive?