Commuters stranded along Kasarani-Mwiki route following matatu strike

Mwiki Sacco Limited (MSL) matatu operators plying the Kasarani-Mwiki route on Monday morning staged a protest against their officials amid claims of harassment and assault.

The protest, which saw buses belonging to the Sacco withdrawn from the road, left commuters stranded with some opting to walk to other nearby bus stops to board vehicles to their destinations.

“The officials have been harassing and beating up our colleagues for a long time now. That is why we have decided that we are not working today until we get an audience with Sacco officials on the way forward,” said Peter Mwangi, Chairperson of MSL matatu drivers.

This comes barely a day after a conductor with the sacco was severely beaten and later succumbed to his injuries for allegedly overcharging passengers.

Julius Kamau was allegedly assaulted by officers from the MSL for charging passengers Ksh.100 instead of the normal Ksh.80 fare.

On the fateful evening, the bus Kamau was operating left the MSL terminus along Tom Mboya street and on reaching Kasarani, two alleged MSl officers boarded the vehicle and asked passengers how much they had been charged.

It is then that a scuffle ensued with the said officers beating up Kamau, accusing him of tainting the Sacco’s name by overcharging customers.

A post-mortem is set to be conducted on Kamau’s body on Monday to ascertain the cause of death.

More to follow…