By Aquinas High School, Nairobi

Allan WAHOME
Antony OWICH

Matatu

The name matatu came about when the passengers were paying three pennies as their bus fare (« tatu » means « three » in Swahili). A matatu is a means of transport that is mostly used in Kenya. Passengers in Kenya prefer to board a matatu instead of boarding a bus or a taxi. This is because buses are noisy and are usually congested while taxis are considered to be too expensive for most people to afford. Matatus are decorated and some of them are fitted with music systems with loud speakers which keeps the passengers entertained. Many passengers are attracted to the music and also to the appearance of the matatu. Matatus have advantages and disadvantages.
Some of the advantages before the new law included :
It is a cheaper means of transport.
The owner gained profit.
Some of the disadvantages included :
Matatu drivers are rough drivers and most matatus end up at the police station.
Matatus are not many while the passengers waiting to board a matatu are many.
Before Kenya’s minister for transport and communications, Mr. John Michuki, ordered the matatu owners to put safety belts on their vehicles, the matatus were causing a lot of accidents that led to death of many passengers. There are many routes in which different matatus in our country carry people from. A matatu that would fetch a lot of customers would require to be made by companies/garages that deal specifically with matatus. Examples of such garages include Catskill auto tech, 2M auto tech and Dodi auto tech.

Richard M. GITAU
Fred KAKAYI

Matatu

The word “matatu” originated from its amount of fare charged in the past. The touts use to charge three shillings per person for transport. “Tatu” is “three” in Swahili language. Because of them being many, they added the prefix “ma” to the word “tatu”, making it “matatu”. It is the main use of transport for people in the country. Due to the monetary value charges, the fare has been hiked. Another reason for the hike is because the matatu owners were requested to fit safety belts and speed governors to reduce the number of accidents on Kenyan roads. The current fare is a minimum amount of twenty shillings per person. Due to change in lifestyle the matatus are decorated with various colours ranging from bright to dark colours. They are also fixed with music systems to attract many customers. But mainly the customers are youths since the aged people do not enjoy loud modern music, which makes no sense.
The matatus travel to different routes within urban centres. The most common routes in Nairobi include : 58 (Buruburu to city centre and back), 23 (Outering road to city centre and back), 10 (Maringo to city centre and back), 11 (South B to city centre and back).
The companies that decorate the matatus are Dodi auto tech, Catskill, 2M auto tech and Kigwe auto tech. These are minibuses whose spare parts are imported into Kenya via Mombasa and are transported to Nairobi, then the spare parts are assembled together and are later transported to various parts of the country. Later they add some accessories like disco lights, music systems, DVD players. And some graphics are added inside and outside the matatu. Later the matatu registers to various routes and starts operating.