Matatu driver James Gitau and his conductor Silas Ndung'u are in prison serving a life sentence for killing a passenger at Allsops area on Thika road following a scuffle over Sh5 bus fare 21 years ago.
The events that led to their arrest and imprisonment for murder are similar to last week’s incident where a passenger died after a conductor pushed him out of a speeding bus along the same road. Both incidents involve a bus fare top-up dispute.
Gitau and Ndung’u were sentenced to death in 2003 by the High Court in Nairobi and have since exhausted their appeals—the last attempt being a request for review of the death sentence, which was thrown out by the courts in 2022.
The passenger disagreed with the matatu crew after paying Sh10 fare from Huruma Roundabout to Allsops. The conductor demanded he pays Sh5 more. The passenger refused, leading to the fatal scuffle.
Though this is one of the oldest criminal cases on cruelty of matatu crews that terrorise passengers, and the sentence was expected to serve as a deterrent measure, the criminal actions have persisted over time.
In Kisumu, Roman Oduor, a matatu conductor, is serving a 30-year-jail term imposed in 2018 for pushing a passenger out of a moving vehicle to his death following a quarrel over Sh10. The passenger gave the conductor a Sh100 note and was to be given change of Sh90. But he was handed Sh80.
A perusal of various court cases involving matatu crews and passengers indicates that the most important thing to the operators of public service vehicles is to maximise their daily earnings. So aggressive and determined are the crews in making money that some will not hesitate to kill passengers for as little as Sh10.
The cases also indicate that all confrontations between the matatu crews and passengers revolve around bus fare disputes. According to the court files, it starts as an argument over a balance, which degenerates into a scuffle.
Serious crimes such as robbery, assault, passenger harassment and pushing out passengers from moving vehicles are increasingly being reported in the matatu industry.
The government's attempts to regulate the industry and tame the rogue crews through punitive laws and imprisonment have not succeeded in instilling sanity in the sector.
“We are dealing with a sector where people have actually decided to be the law themselves. This public transport sector has grown into some sort of a monster. If we do not take firm decisions to restore order, we will surely lose our society,” former Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang'i said in 2018. He spoke at the height of a standoff with matatu owners over the re-introduction of the “Michuki” rules to streamline the sector.
Introduction of Saccos, while a positive development, has not helped much in enforcing discipline, although recently the High Court ruled that the fleet management for PSVs is accountable for the conduct of their crews, including harassment of passengers.
“Matatu Saccos were introduced to ensure accountability to the public and the Sacco must take responsibility for the poor service and harassment of the members of the public by crew under their management. They must and will be held accountable for the misconduct or indiscipline of persons operating under their management,” High Court Judge Lawrence Mugambi ruled in January this year.
In Nairobi, another matatu driver, Edward Kamau, his conductor Meshack Mwangi and tout Nicholas Chege are serving a life sentence for violent robbery and sexual assault of a female passenger in 2014 in Githurai area. Initially, the three had been sentenced to death.
Nicholas Chege Mwangi (left) and Meshack Mburu Mwangi in a Nairobi court on December 10, 2014 when they were charged with robbery with violence and sexual assault in relation to the stripping of a female bus passenger in Githurai, Nairobi, on September 20, 2014.
Photo credit: File | Nation Media Group
Many other matatu crews are in prison or in court pleading their innocence for various criminal offences while engaging passengers.
Austin Alero, a tout, is battling criminal charges of robbing a passenger Sh16,000 and a mobile phone in Uthiru, Nairobi. He is accused of throwing out the passenger from a minibus after robbing him.
Now, a Super Metro crew is facing prosecution and long jail terms for pushing a passenger out of a moving bus to his death. The passenger, Gilbert Thuo, was pushed out at Kahawa area last week by the bus crew. His crime? He did not have Sh30 to top up the Sh50 he had paid as his fare to Thika town. The conductor rejected Thuo’s plea that he had no more money to add.
The incident comes a month after the owner of another Super Metro bus and the Sacco’s director were ordered by a court to pay a passenger, Wairimu Muthoni Wachira, Sh420,000 as compensation for assault by the matatu crew in August 2018.
Ms Wachira’s differences with the crew arose when the bus changed course at Ngara area in Nairobi and headed towards Thika. When boarding, she believed it was heading to Westlands.
Upon changing route, Ms Wachira demanded to alight and the conductor refused to give her back the balance after paying Sh1,000. The driver stopped the bus, went to the passenger cabin and joined the conductor in pushing Ms Wachira out, causing her to fall outside the bus. They followed her outside and slapped her.
The two then threw her belongings to her as they sped off. On checking, she found that the Sh80,000 she had was missing. She also realized that a gold pendant worth Sh40,000 she was missing.
“Considering the indignity the passenger was subjected to, being thrown forcefully from the bus, losing her property, being repeatedly slapped in public until she bled; It is my considered view that compensation to the tune of Sh420,000 is fair and reasonable. The same is apportioned equally between the Director Super Metro Sacco and owner of the bus Ezekiel Njuguna so that each shall pay Sh210,000 to Ms Wachira,” said Justice Lawrence Mugambi in the judgment.
Ms Wachira had wanted a compensation of Sh10 million from Super Metro being general damages for the emotional and psychological pain and suffering caused by the crew.
In another case in Nairobi, a 23-year-old woman was killed in 2014 after being thrown out of a moving matatu in Kawangware area in a Sh10 fare dispute.
In a separate case, a matatu conductor, David Gatembo Mbeti , is lucky to be a freeman after the Court of Appeal substituted his death sentence with a seven-year jail-term. He had been sent to the hangman in 2015 by the High Court for stabbing a passenger, Antonius Odhiambo, with a screwdriver, causing his death. He stabbed the passenger inside a matatu in Embakasi following over Sh160 change owed to Odhiambo.
David Gatembo Mbeti in a Nairobi court.
Deep in a rural area of Murang'a County, Kiharu sub-County, a family lost three relatives in 2011 following a quarrel with a matatu conductor over Sh100 change. The matatu charged them Sh300 each from Murang'a to Nairobi. They gave the conductor a Sh1,000 note and expected him to give back Sh100, but the conductor refused and a scuffle ensued.
The matatu stopped at Ruiru Bypass stage and the crew called a group of men based at the termini to deal with the situation. They pulled two of the three relatives out of the matatu and bundled them into a private car that was parked nearby. Their bodies were found days later in Ruiru while the third one was handed over to another group in Nairobi and his body was discovered in Loitoktok.
