Matatu Owners Association have suspended the planned industrial strike that was scheduled to take place from Monday, August 26 over various issues affecting the matatu industry.
The news was announced by association president, Albert Karakacha who in a statement made to the press on Sunday August 25, said that the strike was no longer necessary since the government has committed to address their grievances.
He explained that the strike was postponed so as to allow for discussions with government officials regarding several pressing issues affecting the matatu industry.
“We have suspended the strike which was supposed to be happen tomorrow because we are going to engage the government in talk with government so as to solve the issues affecting our matatu industry,” said Karakacha.
“We know there are issues which are affecting the industry such as the issue of police and county government harassment government, but we are going to sit down and see how we can come up with solutions,” he added.
Association Head Says Strike Still on If Talks Fail
Furthermore, Karakacha encouraged all association members to resume their services, stressing the importance of working together with the government to find solutions.
Also Read: Matatu Operators Announce Nationwide Strike, Give Date
“We urge our members all over the country, to we make sure that they carry out work as usual tomorrow, ferrying passengers to work as we try to see how to negotiate.”
He also assured them that if the negotiations with government do not yield results, they would reconvene to discuss further action.
“If the talk will not come up clearly, we’ll have to sit down with our members and come up with our way forward,” said the association president.
“We cannot just push the strike for the sake, we are businessmen, and we were pushing for the strike because of the various issues whereby we feel like we’ve been backed to a corner and when you are backed to a corner, you’ll have to come up with a way to see how to defend yourself,” he added.
Matatu Give Strike Notice
This development comes days after matatu industry stakeholders in a statement made on August 21 announced the nationwide strike citing five key issues affecting the public service vehicle (PSV) sector.
“The Matatu industry, together with other transport stakeholders in the Public Service sector, is deeply concerned about the government’s mishandling of critical issues affecting our industry. As a result, we are compelled to take action,” read the statement in part.
Matatu owners expressed concern over the recent increase in fuel levy, which they said has significantly increased their operational costs.
Also Read: Matatu Owners Counter Murkomen After NTSA Return Order
They also cited Insurance issues as part of their concerns with operators decrying the high premiums and troubling delays and, in some cases, denials in claim settlements.
Also, the matatu owners also expressed their frustrations over aggressive repossession practices by auctioneers as well as exploitative lending from microfinance institutions.
Additionally, the statement noted the continuous harassment from police and county officials, who matatu drivers accuse of extorting money from them through unlawful fines.
Lastly, the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) was also accused of incompetency with matatu owners arguing that the agency had failed to provide efficient regulation and oversight.
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