Nairobi PSVs to Transport School Children for Free – Governor Sakaja
The governor of Nairobi, Johnson Sakaja, has announced that students wearing school uniforms will now ride for free in the city’s public service vehicles (PSVs).
Sakaja and other Nairobi matatu Saccos made the announcement together on Friday after a successful meeting at City Hall.
Several actions were agreed upon to restore order and sanity to the industry.
The county administrator stated that the decision is intended to alleviate the financial burdens of less privileged families in the city, who are already struggling to put food on the table owing to the present economic climate.
“When I was growing up, in this city, we cared for each other. Children were not paying fare in matatus, as long as they were in school uniform.
“Why are we charging children fare? Why don’t we just carry them (for free)?” He posed to the matatu sector stakeholders.
“You could find that there’s no food at home, which is why I’m doing a school-feeding programme; so that our children can get something to eat in school.
“And then some schools are far; that Ksh.50 or Ksh.20 to pay fare to school, many don’t have.”
In addition, the Governor pledged to work with the police to ensure that matatus are not penalized for carrying an excessive number of passengers due to the presence of school-aged children.
However, he warned them not to exploit the instruction as a pretext to pack their vehicles with adults, since they will be fined if they do.
“Today we’re saying children in Nairobi County will be carried by our matatus if they’re in uniform for free, and the matatu will not be charged excess for those children because these are short distances, let us just help the children. That is humanity and God will bless you,” he said.
“I will deal with the police. But don’t use it as an excuse to carry grown people in excess; only carry children in school uniform for free.”
