Matatus in Kenya play an important role on a daily basis.
They account for 80 per cent of the total public transport in the country. They are seen by the government as engines of social and economic development. The document by the national transport and safety regulations that out of the 692 Saccos only 272 are registered brings to the fore the negligence in the public sector.
It is the failure of the remaining Saccos to register that draws back efforts to ensure sanity on our roads. The government directed that all buses and matatus involved in the transport industry join Saccos–which has happened–but the main challenge is seen where the majority of the Saccos is not yet registered.
Reluctance to obey rules has and will still land the transport industry into chaos which slackens cooperative growth due to avoidable petty mistakes. All unregistered matatu Saccos should be put through a thorough checkup since they have been evading revenues yet causing a lot of congestion and traffic jams on our roads.
The committee under Joyce Muthoni should ensure that unregistered Saccos don't go unpunished in order to bring order and learn a lesson through the hard way. It is high time the National Transport and Safety Authority stepped in to clear the way in this sector to avoid recklessness and avoidable accidents.
They should act on these Saccos without failure as some are dominated by rogue drivers and touts without regard for traffic rules. Failure depends on variable factors such as the leadership style of the management team, stakeholders, people and integrity.
It should be noted that while we appreciate the scale of operation of other Saccos like tea growers' and teachers' Saccos, there is a big quest to continually check on the performance of matatu Saccos in our country.
The government's policy objectives on Saccos is that they are in tandem to have a vibrant and globally competitive financial sector driving high levels of savings and financing Kenyans' investment needs.
Kisumu
