Matatu Madness In the CBD: Is It Time to Say "Enough Is Enough"

"Matatu madness: Rogue driver crushes woman between two vehicles in Nairobi central business district (CBD)" screamed The Standard newspaper headline three years ago. The unidentified woman who was trying to cross the road on Luthuli Avenue was pinned between an approaching public service bus and the vehicle that was ahead of it.

As usual, there was a social media frenzy and condemnation of the impunity of public vehicles disregard of the Highway Code especially regarding encroaching on pedestrian walkways and space.

The police must have visited the scene of the incident, performed their investigations and the rogue driver possibly arraigned before a court of law. However, it is difficult to establish whether recommendations and learning points were learnt from the police report but it is a fact that the public vehicles continued with their impunity of disregarding the Highway Code.

Prior to this incident, there was a similar accident that occurred on Monday, March 21, 2016, when a middle-aged woman was pinned and crushed between two public vehicles 'matatus' plying the Githurai route while trying to cross Ronald Ngala Street. In this case, the driver of one of the vehicles was reversing and hit her.

There are unverified reports of another 'matatu' plying the Mwiki route knocking and crushing a lady against another 'matatu' while reversing in the vicinity of Tusky's Beba Beba stage in 2015.

Photo Courtesy of Nairobi News

Fast forward to 2021, and yet again The Standard newspaper of June 17 headline screamed "High-ranking police officer's daughter crushed to death by two matatus in CBD", reigniting debate in social media. The young lady's life was sniffed off by a rogue driver who was reversing his matatu and pinned her against another matatu. The driver was arrested taken to custody by police after the incident.

It is unfortunate that four precious lives at their prime, coincidentally all women were lost in accidents that were preventable if the culture of safety, compliance to the rule of law and enforcement of the same was followed to the latter.

Despite the latest incident, you will still find similar conditions that contributed to these incidents, public vehicles haphazardly parked close to each other, obstructing traffic, reversing and overlapping on pedestrian walkways along most streets in the central business district in total disregard of the Highway Code.?Undoubtedly, we are staring at another similar incident in the future if no remedial action is taken.

Ideally, when such an accident occurs, the onus is left to the law enforcement to carry out investigations and come up with their findings. In most cases, the investigating officers will not consider the root cause of the incident instead placing the blame on the person(s) directly responsible for the incident which can be counterproductive. Certainly, a Root Cause Analysis (RCA) will be an attempt at preventing the incident from happening again.

First, designated and marked picking and dropping points should be delineated complete with a focal point that liaises with other stakeholders on the safety and security of the centres. Secondly, the pedestrian pavements should be clear with a line of sight and well lit during the night for assurance and convenience of the pedestrians. A close watch program for the businesses around these points will monitor and ensure safety and security is maintained.

Multi-sector players in the transport industry encompassing law enforcement, the county government and the Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS), matatu owners and their staff, and the public should take a proactive and positive approach to eliminate this impunity.