Matatus at the Nyeri bus terminus. A new study has shone the spotlight on Kenya’s public transport sector, accusing it of flouting laws meant to protect drivers and conductors. Photo/File
A new study has shone the spotlight on Kenya’s public transport sector, accusing it of flouting laws meant to protect drivers and conductors.
The research by the global industrial relations watchdog, the International Labour Organisation (ILO), says the matatu sector is notorious for engaging child labourers and subjecting crew to long working hours without adequate compensation.
“The dominance of casual employees is attributed to the risky nature of the job where employers usually change drivers without warning or quit the business altogether,” said Jacob Omolo, the lead researcher at the Centre for Policy Research, who was commissioned by ILO to conduct the research.
The report said the unregulated management of the sector has caused excessive competition among drivers and touts who, for lack of good pay, work or health benefits security, rush to make the most of each day usually with chaotic and deadly consequences.
A total of 2,960 respondents — employees and owner-managers — were sampled from Nakuru, Nairobi, Mombasa and Kisumu. Of these, 2,103 — or 71 per cent — responded.
The five major labour laws found to be routinely breached were the Employment Act, the Labour Relations Act, Occupational Safety and Health Act, Work injury Benefits Act and the Labour institutions Act.
For instance, the survey showed that 1,787 (85 per cent) of drivers and touts were employed on a casual basis, usually on daily terms.
This is contrary to the law prescribing that a worker should not be hired on a casual basis for more than three months.
Only 12.67 per cent (266) of the drivers were on temporary contracts while those on fixed terms and permanent basis were 0.62 and 1.82 per cent respectively.
Martin Eshiwani, the Transport and Licensing Board (TLB) chief executive, said that permanent employees were likely to perform better and be more civil because of job security.
“We published a legal notice over three years ago that sought to have matatu employees hired on monthly contracts but this is yet to happen,” he said.
Of the 2,092 employees who responded to the question of whether they were members of NHIF, only 111 — about 5.3 per cent — said ‘Yes’.
Only 102 of them have NSSF subscription despite the intentions of the TLB legal notice to have employers sign up crews for social security cover.
The report also found that majority (62.2 per cent) of drivers and touts work between 15 and 20 hours a day – flouting both the Traffic Act and the General Wages (Amendment) Order which stipulate a maximum of eight working hours.
“Working hours in the matatu industry vary greatly with the most common being those who work from 4am to either midnight, 10pm or 8pm in the night,” the report noted.
However, drivers and conductors based in Nairobi and Kisumu were on the road for fewer hours than their colleagues who work in Mombasa and Nakuru.
With speeding by PSV vehicles being the lead cause of most road crashes in Kenya, the report extended the blame to fatigue.
“Many of the drivers keep awake for hours on end and when fatigue finally creeps in, road crashes are certain to occur,” said Mr Eshiwani.
Amendments to the Traffic Law have since put drivers who cause deaths on the roads on notice by prescribing the death sentence for such crimes.
The ILO report also found out that about 62 per cent (700) of the matatu drivers and 34 per cent of conductors earned below the stipulated minimum wages as of April this year.
The statutory minimum daily wage for conductors in Nairobi, Mombasa and Kisumu at the time was Sh364.95 while that of drivers was Sh619.75.
In Nakuru, this wages were Sh335.50 and 570.05 respectively.
Paid leave
Only two per cent of matatu workers said they enjoy paid leave. The report indicted the Ministry of Labour, the Central Organisation of Trade Unions and the Federation of Kenya Employers for failing to arrest the situation.
“Both COTU and FKE suffer from inadequate human and financial resources to complement the ministry’s efforts in enforcing the laws,” the report noted.
Samson Wainaina, chairman of the Matatu Drivers and Conductors Welfare Association, called on matatu associations, through their respective saccos, to merge and join COTU to push for the laws to be enforced.
Despite the seemingly unkind business environment in the matatu industry, majority of the respondents were found to be the youth.
Nearly three quarters of the respondents were aged between 18 and 35 years.
Cases of child labour where children were often used as loaders and temporary conductors were also uncovered.
