Matatu operators plying the Nyali-CBD route in Mombasa have increased their fares by 100 per cent. This follows the high number of guests in the area attending the ongoing secondary school heads’ conference.
Passengers are paying Sh100 for a four-kilometre distance, whose fare is normally Sh40.
Tuk tuk operators have tripled their fares. On a normal day, it costs Sh200 to be ferried from Nyali to town. But since the conference began on Monday, clients are being charged Sh600 per person.
A tuk tuk carries three passengers, meaning an operator is making Sh1,800 in one trip. They earned a tidy sum of money during morning hours when principals travelled to the venue at Wild Waters Centre, and in the afternoon when they left.
Some drivers defended hiked fares, saying the opportunity comes once in a year. “When will we eat if not today. The guests have been paid per diem to attend this conference. So they should spend and stop being stingy,” Lucas Makori, a tuk tuk driver, who started the business in 2009, said.
Teachers have complained over the high charges.
The conference ends today.
