Toe the line or quit, matatus told

Matatus queue for commuters in Kisumu. The government plans to phase out the 14-seater matatus by only licensing high capacity vehicles to ease congestion on the roads. Jacob Owiti | NATION

What you need to know:

  • Court blocks suit seeking to quash directive that owners join societies to secure operating licences

Matatu owners on Tuesday lost their bid to stop the government from regulating the transport sector.

And the High Court directed all the 14-seater matatus to abide by the government rules or quit the transport industry.

“Matatu cartels stifle every move by the government to streamline the transport sector. They turned themselves into a rogue state within the government,” ruled Mr Justice Mohammed Warsame on Tuesday.

Mr Justice Warsame said matatus were the major cause of mayhem and confusion in public transport.

“All the nuts and bolts of the public service vehicles is one of confusion due to the matatu cartels which operate on all routes. They are the alpha and omega. They must toe the line or quit the business,” the judge said while dismissing an application by Directline Assurance Company Ltd.

The company sought to block a government directive requiring individual matatu owners to join societies as a condition for securing operating licences.

This came as the Transport Licensing Board announced it had extended the deadline for registration of the savings and credit cooperative societies to the end of this month.

The board’s chief executive officer, Mr Cosmas Ngeso, told the Nation the notice, which is to run in the daily newspapers, had been authorised after consultations.

“We want to get as many operators as possible on board because the new organisations will be an advantage to both the regulator and the operator.”

Mr Justice Warsame dismissed the application seeking to prohibit the implementation of the new rules saying, “allowing the application is to support cartels.”

The judge noted that traffic offences were committed with impunity since police were unable to control the sector due to lack of resources.