Is the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) overstepping it’s mandate? Well, Kiambu governor Ferdinand Waititu thinks so.
Waititu has urged President Uhuru Kenyatta to sack the National Transport Safety Authority director general Francis Meja for frustrating investors in the transport industry.
Speaking at the county headquarters when he hosted matatu sacco chairmen drawn from 9 counties, he faulted Meja for ordering the phasing out of 14 seater matatus in the country.
He termed the move as oppressive and retrogressive claiming that it was a calculated scheme to impoverish investors in the sector, most of whom are from the Mt Kenya region.
‘He is very arrogant and knows nothing to do with the transport industry and we can foresee him planning to kill our people’s livelihoods in collaboration with cartels who intend to buy buses and phase out 14 seaters,’ he said.
He also took a swipe at his Nairobi counterpart Mike Sonko for barring PSVs from accessing the CBD.
Waititu’s claims come even as the High Court temporarily stopped NTSA from denying 14-seater matatu operators licences.
Justice Enoch Chacha Mwita issued the directive after 24 matatu saccos in Nairobi challenged the government’s plan to phase out the low-capacity public service vehicles.
“An order is hereby issued until February 15, prohibiting the NTSA from effecting Section 4(2) and 4(3) of Legal Notice 179 of December 31, 2014, when processing the road service PSV licences for the petitioners,” Justice Mwita said. The notice ordered the licensing of PSVs that carry fewer than 25 passengers stopped from January 1, 2016.
But Justice Mwita promised to issue a comprehensive ruling on February 15, “since the government has indicated that the first batch of 11 trains and 64 high-capacity commuter buses will arrive in Nairobi at around that time”.
Should the government completely do away with 14-seater matatus?