Matatus to ground services as buses win reprieve on carriers

A transport crisis could be in the offing after the Matatu Welfare Association asked its members to keep their vehicles off the road after failing to secure court orders to extend new traffic regulations.

A case by the transporters challenging some of the rules that come into effect Tuesday was postponed to Wednesday because of late filing.

“We urge our members to ground their matatus if they have not complied with the new guidelines, as we wait for the ruling of the court ” said Dickson Mbugua, the chairman of the association.

READ: Commuters stare at transport chaos ahead of new rules

Mr Mbugua said the late filing arose from the association waiting to see if Transport and Communications secretary Michael Kamau would grant their plea for an extension.

READ: Transporters step up push for review of new road rules

Mr Mbugua said only 8,000 vehicles had so far complied with the regulations, the main one being fitting of tamper-proof speed governors.

“There are only 8,000 vehicles that have met the new guidelines out of 60,000 vehicles, implying that transport will be paralysed,” he said.

However, National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) director general Francis Meja said more than 10,000 vehicles had met the requirements by Friday last week.

“The deadline still stands and we expect that more than 10,000 vehicles that have complied will offer uninterrupted public transport to Kenyans,” said Mr Meja.
He said the deadline was agreed on mutually. The new guidelines require all public service vehicles to be organised in Saccos of at least 30 vehicles.

Operators claim this bars the licensing of individual PSV operators even where they own more than 30 vehicles.

READ: Tough rules for PSVs seeking licences

The vehicles must also be fitted with digital speed governors that have ability to record speed. A fine of Sh50,000 for failure to comply has also been imposed.

In a related case, bus owners Monday moved to court to challenge enforcement of the new regulations.

High Court judge George Odunga allowed the application, but declined to grant an order halting compliance.

“The regulations contain issues that require investigation by court. An order is hereby granted to challenge the regulations as published on March 11 in Special Gazette,” said Justice Odunga.

However, he stopped the removal of carriers on buses.

The judge will determine Wednesday whether the regulations and the ongoing inspection of vehicles for compliance would be stopped.

He directed bus owners, Transport secretary, principal secretary, the National Transport and Safety Authority, Inspector General of Police David Kimaiyo, the Traffic Commandant and the Attorney- General to appear in court tomorrow for hearing.

The measures are meant to enhance road safety by checking on speeding, which is mostly blamed for road accidents that kill more than 3,000 Kenyans each year.

Other measures put in place to contain carnage include breathalysers to check on drunk driving. A person found to be driving with the alcohol level beyond the required limits is fined between Sh15,000 and Sh25,000.

The new governors are GPRS technology enabled and travel data can be retrieved from them to help convict crew of reckless or dangerous driving. The new set of laws, which was enforced late last year, saw night travel after 9pm banned.

NTSA said transport operators seeking night travel permits should have two drivers on board for the shift and pay Sh3,000 for the application.

Easy Coach managing director A Doffa said it had lost 60 per cent in revenue since the introduction of the night travel regulation.