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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