It forced Starehe MP Margaret Wanjiru to go to Prime Minister’s office yesterday afternoon and ask him to come and cool the heat caused by angry matatu operators at Nairobi Railways round about in what they called harassment from the city council askaris.
After the matatu business almost stalling for two hours with the matatu operators demanding to be addressed by PM Raila Odinga, several senior government officials were not spared of the matatu operators’ wrath, as evident when Nairobi City Mayor George Aladwa tried to address the angry mob, being forced to board his car and leave.
Even when Margaret Wanjiru tried addressing the crowd, the angry conductors jeered at her: “We want to be addressed by Raila Odinga only!”
“It’s like we work for the City Council. They are charging us petty fines which we cannot account for. We are forced to pay them Ksh 2,000 to elude a hefty fine of Ksh 6,000 once they book you,” confessed one of the conductors who added that he sometimes goes home empty-handed.
In his address, the PM said that he was saddened by the way the askaris were treating businesspeople in the city especially hawkers and matatu operators.
“Businesses do not operate with such stringent rules the city council askaris are posing to you. There is no need of working the whole day and going home empty-handed yet you have families to look after,” said Raila.
He urged traffic police not to flout traffic rules and apprehend any city council officer they trace receiving a bribe from the matatu operators. He even directed the mayor to ensure that the askaris have uniforms as the conductors and drivers noted that it’s hard to identify a genuine officer from pretenders.
Dickson Mbugua, Matatu Welfare Association National Chairman threw a swipe at the government for failing to respect a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the association and the task force that the government appointed to air grievances of the matatu operators in 2010.
“City council askaris think that matatus are cash cows where they can milk anytime of the day. They have turned themselves into traffic police instead of chasing hawkers from the city,” said Mr Mbugua.
Makadara MP Mike Mbuvi alias Sonko warned that the strike will hold if the city council askaris will continue meddling into the affairs of matatu business.
The demonstration was triggered by an early morning matatu crackdown, where NCC officers accompanied with several breakdown land rovers towed matatus to their yard.
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