As the government grapples with taming the matatu industry, operators are reeling under the demands of gangs that collect money on every route and bus stop.
Research by NCIC on proliferation of criminal gangs
between November 2016 and June 2017 established that
politicians have been supporting the criminal groups.
The politicians facilitate economic opportunities for the gang members, such as control of bus parks and allocation of market stalls.
The gangs are in control of bus termini in most urban areas, and PSV owners must pay between Sh50,000 and Sh100,000 to get permission from the criminal gangs to operate in certain routes.
PSV crews have to pay between Sh30 and Sh100 to the gang’s agents along the roads for picking passengers at most bus stops.
The report said police and junior government officers, including county askaris, have been implicated for supporting the criminal outfits.
It said most [77
per cent] of those interviewed attributed the continued operation of these outlawed gangs to the weak enforcement of domestic laws.
Other reasons given were inadequate training, resources and limited deployment of Special Crime Prevention Unit officers to the counties.
Also blamed were the support the gangs enjoy from their political patrons, communities and government officials, and the impunity they enjoy in spite of their glaring participation in violent and criminal activities.
The vicious gangs have been a thorn in the side of PSV operators. And now Matiang’i has vowed to remove them from the roads.
“When people invest in PSVs, they are forced to pay faceless characters money so that they are allowed to operate on certain routes, especially in many urban centres in the country,”
Matiang’i
said.
“This must stop. We shall clean up bus stops and arrest anyone who harasses passengers. Order must be reinstated.”