MATATU COMPETITION

Like most businesses, competition in the matatu industry is the driving force to faster, flashier matatus on the road; and like in most businesses where strategies of every kind are developed and implemented to beat competition; the matatu industry has experienced what can only be described as ‘turbulent’ change.

It is estimated that the matatu industry in Kenya controls over 80 percent of passengers transportation. The industry is characterized with diverse and sometimes conflicting social,economic and political interests;the end result of this struggle is increased cost of running the business,greater risk of road traffic accidents,poor service delivery and exorbitant fares.

Having come up a few years back and dominated Kenyan roads, transforming the masterminds behind the business to overnight millionaires, more and more people developed an interest in this sector and with this, new ideas on how to gain more leverage with commuters sprung up if only to make one’s vehicle, the people preferred mode of transport.

The changes came in different areas, from a vehicles physical outlook, its body structure and shape to the services offered. The matatu came face to face with its biggest competitor, the double M commuter train bus services. Comprising of a fleet of buses that have proved to be the commuters preferred mode of transport, overshadowing others like the fourteen seater Nissan matatus,buses and the city hoppa’s that are older in the industry.

Unlike it’s counterpart the matatu,with it’s flashy lights,LCD screens, loud music and graffiti, the double M commuter train is rather plain and conservative in that there is no form of entertainment in form of music or movies shown.

It’s most distinguishable aspect which seems to be the secret to attracting commuters, having managed to attract both the young adults and elderly unlike the matatu whose main clientèle are the youth, is the service offered.

Though not as pimped up as the matatu, the double M commuter bus offers comfort to your destination. One does not have to squeeze his legs to fit between the seats since it offers enough space to comfortably accommodate the tallest of persons. Scenes of commuters scrambling to get in as experienced in matatus is unheard of here, be it rush hour when most people get off from work in the evening or morning, commuters waiting on this vehicle are normally seen queuing obediently in an organized manner with a supervisor from the bus’s company always available to monitor and direct the buses to pick the commuters.

The friendly service they offer is not limited to the bus conductor,but the driver as well as supervisor.

With clean uniforms that match their company’s theme color and logo,organized is the only term that can best describe them. From their shoes to their hair,all staff are seen neatly dressed and ready to embrace the day and cases of unkept or disorderly bus drivers or conductors has not been heard of since start of business a few years back.

Since the double m commuter trains inception,commuters can breath a sigh of relief having been saved the hustle and bustle of scrambling for overcrowded matatus and Nissan,or walking long distances to catch a ride to one’s destination as experienced a few years back,which saw many have to wake up early and walk long distances in order to catch a matatu after practically ‘fighting’ and scrambling your way in to it.

You might think that with the shortage of enough matatus to ferry people to their work places would bring out the ‘gentlemen’ in men by seeing them give women and mothers first priority into getting safely in to the matatus considering their feminine nature as experienced a few years back when courtesy and respect was still a much practiced norm in our society,having been taught and in-grained in most homes to treat and respect the elderly and for men to especially treat women with alot of consideration;what came out more was in total contrast of this. Scenes of falling women with some practically losing their handbags and shoes as they try to outdo everyone else in getting in to a matatu became a normal site with the men’s show of concern or sympathy totally non-existent. The term survival for the fittest describes the scenario quite clearly.

With the matatu’s practically ruling the roads,scenes of scrambling commuters only saw the ‘makanga(conductor) and driver of these vehicles take advantage of this situation and hike the fares, practically doubling their rates making themselves and their employers quite ‘happy’ for the day with the profit made despite the already unbearable economic situation experienced and the already long treks made by the commuters which would make the ride to the CBD quite short.! Tired,dusty and already cursing the transport system,the commuters are left with no choice but to pay the amount asked for, if only to get to their workplaces on time……………

TO BE CONTINUED…………”

The Kenyan Youth And His Matatu!

Around the world today, there seems to be a fetish for beautiful fast cars, the prettier the car and extra mileage it can go the cooler it is and of course the cooler you are!

Working two jobs or three to save up for that car is worth every penny and when bought one can hardly wait to pimp it up to give it that unique look.
Unlike in most European and American cultures where most parents find it necessary to buy for their teenagers their first cars, things are totally different in Kenya and most African countries; but this has not hindered the Kenyan youth from loving a ride as if he owned his own car!

An average Kenyan youth can hardly maintain himself with the little money he gets let alone buy himself a car to pimp up. With the unemployment rate in Kenya soaring yearly, he is left to survive on barely a dollar a day, with the inflation rate also being a negative contributor to his lifestyle, the only means of transportation that makes one feel young and hopeful is the matatu!

He doesn’t have to wait to get that flashy car or spend all of his savings trying to pimp it up to give it that unique look. In Kenya, everything’s been already done for the Kenyan youth and all he has to do is step in to a Kenyan matatu!

It’s not a Kenyan matatu if it’s not loud, has trendy seats, multicolored with hi-fi DVD screen and of course fast!


The matatu industry in Kenya is booming business and the more pimped up the ride, with a breaking mileage to boost, the higher the profit you’d stand to make since Kenyans are always in a rush to go places and extremely choosey in everything, especially the kind of matatu to board.

The Kenyan youth has some consideration to think of in choosing his matatu:

a) Whether it’s the latest one on the roadA Kenyan youth by no means necessary would want to be heckled at by his friends for boarding a shady matatu.

b) How fast it isWith the high population rate especially in some of the estates, getting where you want to go most of the time is challenging because of traffic. With practically none existent highways to accommodate the huge number of vehicles on the road (most lanes being double), one could stay on the road for a whole two hours for a journey that would normally take only fifteen minutes; this being the reason why the Kenyan youth prefers to board his favorite matatu that is fast enough and avoids all the traffic

c) How pimped up it isImagine how the world would be without color! Lovers of art in Kenya do not have to go all the way to an art gallery to enjoy their favorite past time; all you need to do is to simply stand at your roadside and all the art you want to see is right before you; beautifully displayed on a matatu. Some would call it graffiti but the time taken to beautify that vehicle is purely artistic.

With an array of beautiful, flashy colors, beautiful chrome rims to give it that extra flashy look, neon lights that give you that electric feel and a strong exhaust muzzle to boost, a Kenyan matatu doesn’t need marketing!

Inside its even more pimped up and one is always left to imagine the amount of money used for such an investment.


The matatu has come a long way over the years and the Kenyan youth still prefers his means of transport because unlike a few years ago when a well pimped up matatu was considered to be one with a simple eleven inch LCD screen, a contrast to today’s matatu which has eleven inch screen on each head rest and a forty inch screen that separates the driver from the passengers.

The kind of music played also depends on the matatu; while some would play rap or hip hop that mostly accommodates the Kenyan youth, others prefer playing gospel and R&B that the older generation prefer; while some play all types of music depending on the time of day, preferring gospel or R&B in the morning to hip-hop and rap music then reggae as the day wears on. It is with this reason in mind that one could be mistaken to think that a matatu has been turned to a school bus considering the number of high school teenagers seen to patiently wait for the flashiest of them all; not really caring for the time they are supposed to be in school! The scruffle that accompanies this kind of scenario when the patiently awaited matatu comes could make any business man smile all the way to the bank. Even though traffic rules and regulations forbid standing passengers,these teenagers do not have this in mind at all. All they want is to be seen having cruised inthe latest ride in town.

The matatu not only serves as a means of transportation for the Kenyan youth but as a means of touching base with the world ,a stress reliever when he has had a rough day and feels as though the stresses of life are left behind as he nods his head or sings along to the music.

One truly feels thought of in a Kenyan matatu!

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