5 Unbelievable Sufferings Matatu Drivers Go Through That Will Make You Change Your Perspective About Them. Especially Number 4
A date with a matatu driver plying Umoja route revealed the they go through unimaginable hell in their day to day duty.
Gross violation of traffic rules, low wages, violence and extortion are some of the the undesired characters that most Kenyans associate drivers and touts in matatu industry.
Can’t say the apprehensive attitude lacks basis but then again matatu players don’t have a leeway in their job as many thought.
A case of Umoinner Sacco driver James Karanja was a stairway to understanding the problems matatu drivers go through.
1 Errant Touts
Traffic laws require each passenger to be seated when commuting but many a times commuters are crammed in the matatu by the tout.
Do you know who’s behinds get fried when they get in trouble with authority? It’s the driver, the tout can easily run but rarely the drivers abandon their vehicles. The same case of a captain going down with their ship is true of matatu drivers.
2 Emotional Turmoil
Karanja says no matter what good a driver does, the perspective of Kenyans on them never changes. Matatu drivers are perceived as rowdy rejects who are better off away from society.
Karanja says whenever a matatu is involved in a road accident the finger is always pointed at them even when they didn’t cause the accident.
The fact that matatu drivers know they are always at fault eats through their brain like a corrosive acid
3 Wale Madem wa Kukaa Mbele
There is a certain clique of girls who have befriended matatu drivers in exchange of being given that special privilege of seating in front.
At times you go to sit in front and the driver tells you the seat is ‘preserved’ for someone who’s on the way coming.
Drivers love these chicks as they also get the opportunity to flirt with them. The dilemma comes when four of these ‘special’ ladies meet at a stage at a go.
There are only three seats at the front including the driver’s, so matatu drivers are put in the awkward position of choosing which two ladies will sit with them. It might look like a simple decision to you but according to Karanja, this really weighs down on them.
4. Skimpy dressed ladies sitting with drivers
Karanja says this situation is the most disturbing they face. Girls rocking miniskirts and all sorts of crazy clothes give matatu drivers such a difficult time especially when navigating through clogged traffic.
Karanja reveals matatu drivers are forced to ‘camouflage’ any hard-on they may experience in a situation where skimpy dressed ladies spread their thighs all over the front seat.
5 Rotating Traffic Police Officers
Matatu drivers and traffic cops know each other in depth. Drivers usually bribe cops so as they can ply their route for a day without being stopped by traffic cops.
Matatu drivers are forced to part with more cash whenever they find a new cop at a road stop. For instance if they had already paid for the day’s charge, they will have to pay the new cop again as each traffic cop gets his/her cut of bribe.
