‘Kenya Mpya’, ‘Joy Kenya’ turf wars spill over to Meru matatus.
A Kenya Mpya bus picks passengers in front of the Meru Shuttle parking space at the Thika Main Bus Terminus as a KST matatu tries to squeeze it way out of the mess. |
A fierce war of words erupted involving two matatu Saccos
and Neo Kenya Mpya Bus Company on Friday morning over parking space at the
Thika Main Bus terminus, disrupting transport services for members of the
public for a couple of hours.
Unique Shuttle that plies its trade between Thika and Meru and
Eastern Bypass Sacco engaged in a row with Kenya Mpya over who should have
exclusive rights to the picking and dropping bay at terminus.
They accused Kenya Mpya of invading onto their designated parking
space after they were ejected from their previous space by Joy Kenya following a
long standing dispute between the two sister bus companies. They also accused them
of colluding with Thika sub-county administration officers to snatch their
parking slots.
“This is unacceptable! Kenya Mpya wants to bulldoze into our
space after losing out on their turf wars with Joy Kenya. They have gone and
bribed their way here through officials at the county government offices to
shove us off a space we have operated for years,” said one tout from Meru’s
Unique Shuttle.
A driver with Eastern Bypass Sacco said that their
application to have the space they were using was duly approved thus failed to
understand how Kenya Mpya gained the rights to ‘rob’ them of their space.
“Hapa Kenya mnyonge hana haki. Hapa ni pesa zinatumika ili
kutunyanyasa sisi ambao hatuna chetu,” he said. (In Kenya, the poor have no
rights. Money has changed hands here so as to oppress us.)
They described the move by the county authorities as bad for
business as it denied them a chance to operate under the same regime of rules, fearing
that their investments risked going to waste.
The standoff saw Kenya Mpya buses block the matatus right of
way, picking passengers from the spot.
Transport services normalised later amidst tense atmosphere
at the park.
Efforts to get Kenya Mpya’s side of the story were fruitless
as none of those present were willing to talk to the press.
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