Thousands of travellers have been left stranded since 14-seater matatu operators went on strike in Murang’a county on Wednesday.
The strike has paralysed transport operations in the northern part of the county. Matatu owners have incurred losses running into millions of shillings.
The operators, who work on the Murang’a-Kangema route, are protesting against unfair competition from buses. They said the buses charge almost half the recommended fare.
The operators said the buses that ferry passengers from Nairobi to Kangema and Mathioya pick the majority of passengers along the route, leaving them scrambling for the few remaining few.
Muigana Sacco secretary Stanley Ngari said buses from Muna and Namu saccos have intruded into their area of operation.
He said the buses have not been issued with the Travel Licencing Board certificate for the route. “We only have Kangema Travellers, Kamuna Sacco and Muigana Sacco and we do not know why these buses from other saccos have been allowed to ply this route,” Ngari said.
He said they have asked the bus owners to join their saccos, but they have refused.
Ngari said they make little profit as most passengers prefer the buses because of the low fare. The operators said they will continue with the strike until the government forces the bus owners to join their saccos or their vehicles are allocated their own parking space.
Plied route for 15 years
But Occupy Travellers Buses founder Mwangi Komu denied the allegations, saying their vehicles have TLB licences to ply the route.
He said the buses have plied the route for 15 years. Mwangi said during this time they have never had any conflict with the 14-seater matatu operators. He said he does not understand why the operators are complaining.
“We pick passengers from Nairobi and take them to the upper parts of Kangema and Mathioya, where the matatus do not operate. We ply on the Kangema route from 10am to 3pm, leaving them with a lot of time to operate,” he said.
Mwangi said his buses have suffered losses amounting to Sh500,000 since the strike began, since they are forced to drop their passengers in Murang’a town or seek police escort to Kangema.