Murkomen addresses reports of passenger allegedly stripped by touts over bus fare

Transport Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen has come out to address reports of a passenger who was allegedly stripped by matatu touts over bus fare payment.

The reports shared on social media late last week purported that the passenger was a deaf woman who could not express herself well in the matatu plying the Nairobi-Meru route.

Photos seen by Citizen Digital show a person, whose face and chest are hidden, seated in a matatu without clothes and their undergarments slightly pulled down.

But Murkomen on Monday said investigations had established that the passenger was a mentally unstable man said to have been deeply asleep while others paid their fare.

“On arrival at Nairobi Tea Room matatu terminus at approximately 10 am, the passengers alighted save for the male passenger who was still sleeping. On being roused up, he reportedly appeared confused and disoriented and did not pay the required fare,” the CS said in a statement shared on Twitter.

Murkomen said the passenger then started undressing inside the said vehicle, after which police were called and escorted the vehicle and the passenger to Nairobi’s Central police station.

“Upon interrogation of the matter it was decided that the said passenger be returned back to Meru as he appeared unstable,” the statement added.

The driver reportedly went back to Meru with the passenger and handed him over to Meru Police Station.

“Police let him proceed home the following day as he appeared to have stabilized,” Murkomen said. 

The social media reports had sparked uproar among many Kenyans who called on the Directorate of Criminal Investigations to probe the matter.