A matatu driver plying the Nairobi-Meru route refunded fare for students who were stranded after Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu abruptly directed that schools would not reopen on Monday, April 29, as earlier communicated.
The students had travelled from Meru to Nairobi unaware that the CS had issued a midnight directive announcing the extension of opening dates to May 6.
After the students reached Nairobi to connect to their various schools, they were informed of the Ministry of Education directive.
With the students having no fare to go back to Meru, the Matatu driver belonging to Meru Deluxe Shuttle Sacco decided to refund their fares.
He further directed the students where to get a bus to return to their homes.
This came at a time when the County Government of Nairobi announced that it would refund fares for students stuck in the capital.
Sakaja regretted that the directive had been made at a time when students had already boarded buses to various schools.
Explaining how the fare refund would work, Sakaja noted that the students would be randomly handed fares back to their home places regardless of the county they came from.
Notably, students were not stranded in Nairobi only but also in all major towns across the country.
Parents complaining to Kenyans.co.ke stated that they had already booked tickets in the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) train and were now seeking a refund.
CS Machogu had announced that sending students to school at a time when floods had adversely affected many parts of the country was risky.
As such, schools will be reopened on May 6, should the rains reduce.
