Parents decry increased matatu fares as schools reopen

By Francis Chege

Thousands of parents and students in Nairobi were on Monday morning stuck at various bus stops – linking estates and the capital.

Some of the parents who spoke to Wananchi Reporting said that Public Service Vehicles (PSVs) had increased their fares.

John Kariuki – a resident of Kayole – and who was this morning taking his daughter to town to board a bus as she heads back to school – said he paid Ksh.200 for the two of them – instead of the usual Ksh.50 per head. 

“These are tough times. It is immoral and exploitative for some matatus to increase fares just because schools are reopening,” said Kariuki.

“At least school children should be charged half the fares they charge adults, because these are our children. Children don’t work,” added a furious Kariuki.

Residents of Nairobi who work in town, or at least pass through town on their way to work, were also caught in the chaos, and had to pay more to get to town.

It was the same story for those who opted to board boda boda to beat the traffic.
Mildred Akech said she paid a lot more to get to town on Monday morning.

“I knew there would be a problem this morning just because the schools are opening. I have learned to accept that Matatu fares have to shoot up whenever schools are opening or closing,” she said.

“There is nothing we can do about it. The operators hike the fares whenever they want or feel like,” said Akech.

Matatu Owners Association (MOA) Albert Karacha told Wanachi Reporting that they have talked to their members countrywide to be reasonable when charging customers especially now that schools are reopening.

“These are our children, and so we must be considerate and reasonable when charging bus fares. This is a message we have sent to all our Saccos nationwide,” said Karacha.

Karacha also asked other means of transport to follow suit to avoid exploiting parents who have children in school.

James Kibagendi, a bus driver in Nairobi, said the fares often go up because of prolonged traffic during reopening of schools.

“Our vehicles spend long hours in traffic on opening and closing day because many people are suddenly moving – leading to traffic snarl up. To cover for fuel wasted in traffic, and many hours lost, we increase the fares only slightly," said Kibagendi.

In 2022 – Nairobi governor Johnson Sakaja spoke about plans to engage public service vehicles to ensure primary school children in Nairobi would travel to and from school hustle-free.

In the plan, the county government would strike a deal with over 450 Matatu Saccos to transport any uniformed child to school or back home free of charge.