Matatu owners dismiss new rules

What you need to know:

  • Matatu Owners Association Chairman Simon Kimutai said they were not informed of the new curriculum in spite of being key stakeholders in the transport industry.

  • Mr Kimutai said most PSV drivers were between 24 and 28 years old and would lose jobs if the regulation requiring that only 30-year-olds handle buses came into effect.

Matatu owners have dismissed the new driving curriculum by the National Transport and Safety Authority, saying it was developed without their input.

They said introducing age limit to driving would create a crisis, adding that training was the most important thing, not age.

Matatu Owners Association Chairman Simon Kimutai said they were not informed of the new curriculum in spite of being key stakeholders in the transport industry.

“I have just read about it in the Nation. We are key stakeholders yet we haven’t seen the curriculum. We should have been invited for dialogue before it was drafted. NTSA is a young institution and it should learn to involve us,” said Mr Kimutai. 

Mr Kimutai said most PSV drivers were between 24 and 28 years old and would lose jobs if the regulation requiring that only 30-year-olds handle buses came into effect.

Matatu Welfare Association Chairman Dickson Mbugua asked for special training of PSV drivers, saying they have been pushing for it since the time Mr John Michuki was Transport minister and introduced the famous Michuki rules to regulate the matatu industry.