Nairobi's Ngong residents were stranded on Wednesday, February 10 after matatus plying the route withdrew their services to protest the introduction of a new and affordable matatu Sacco.
Passengers reacted to the incident saying that they were surprised to find the matatus not operating on a busy workday.
The route has previously been dominated by an established Sacco which has the reputation of extorting passengers with exaggerated fares.
"The matatus are parked in Ngong, cartels are charging Ksh150 (to Nairobi CBD) which is a total rip off," said one of the commuters.
The residents alleged that the introduction of Super Metro Sacco disappointed the drivers from other Saccos who claim they have been providing transport for over 20 years.
"The Ngong matatu operators cannot survive a full day without money, they will come back soon. They already spent what they earned yesterday," one of the affected passengers encouraged her stranded colleagues.
Speaking to Kenyans.co.ke, a driver identified as Ken said that the Sacco had come to compete with them and they were not going to accept that.
"We don't even get enough passengers nowadays. The Covid-19 restrictions imposed by the government allows us to carry about half the usual capacity. The new Sacco wants to take the few passengers that we have and that will not happen," said Ken.
At the time of publishing, the Ngong matatus had not resumed operations saying they were waiting for the issue to be sorted.
