Uproar As Conductors and Drivers Set To Wear Uniforms With Name, Phone Number
A suggestion aiming for matatu touts and conductors to don uniforms displaying their names and contact details has caused a significant outcry within the industry.
Professor Margaret Kamar, a Senator nominated by the Jubilee party, presented a suggestion in the Senate on Thursday, urging an investigation by senators into the matatu industry to reinstate order.
She observed that the action would control the unruly individuals responsible for causing chaos in the industry, resulting in a rise in instances of passenger mistreatment.
“The Senators should go incognito and board matatus to know whether the rules are been adhered to by matatu drivers and conductors. Women have had a raw deal in this public transport.
“We’ve had cases whereby someone comes and sits on you, touches them inappropriately as well as cases of overloading,” she explained.
“We should reach a level where matatu touts have their names and contacts on their uniforms so that we know who they are. They behave the way they do because they think nobody sees them. Thank God for social media these days, where these incidents are posted.”
Kamar continued to promote the immediate implementation of changes within the industry to bring back a sense of order.
“Because we are a service nation, can we have these people work like waiters with name tags?” she added.
The professor emphasized the recent incident on Thika Road, where a matatu conductor assaulted a woman passenger because she refused to get on the vehicle.
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However, matatu stakeholders have rejected her suggestion, stating that the crimes are primarily committed by criminals rather than the Public Service Vehicle (PSV) crew.
“Who attacks these passengers? You’ll find it’s mostly hooligans at the stages and not the PSV crew. Let them do their research properly or they can come to the lead operators, and we will tell them what happens. They should not come up with outrageous means of harassing people,” Dickson Mbugua, Chairman of Matatu Welfare Association, told Kenyans.co.ke.
“They have forgotten that the drivers have badges which is a requirement according to law. Why are they overlooking that? What more do they want?”
Mbugua pointed out that implementing the proposal would put pressure on public service vehicle (PSV) operators and wouldn’t effectively bring order back to the industry.
“They want to add liabilities to the PSV operators. These things work on sectors including hospitals and hotels but not the matatu,” he added.
“At times, Lawmakers talk as if they live on the moon. Police should investigate these cases of harassment on a case-by-case basis to determine whether it’s the crew or it’s outsiders.”
Uproar As Conductors and Drivers Set To Wear Uniforms With Name, Phone Number