On Friday, March 22, Nairobi experienced a traffic disruption after matatu operators in the Huruma area blocked roads, obstructing the passage of vehicles.
The operators staged demonstrations in response to allegations of harassment and misappropriation of funds by the Huruma Minibus Sacco.
During the protests, the matatu operators demanded the immediate resignation of the SACCO chairperson, whom they accused of lacking integrity.
According to one of the protestors, "When we report the cases to the Sacco offices, the following day you get the door of your vehicle locked."
The minibus Sacco is accused of irregularly withdrawing Ksh3 million, an action that members claim was motivated by selfish interests.
The protesting operators also alleged divisions within the leadership of the Sacco, asserting that this discord significantly impacted the society's operations.
According to one of the operators, the leadership of the Sacco had been affected to an extent that only four people had been left with the role of leading the savings organization.
"These four people currently lead the loans committee, they are the supervisory committee and is similarly the central management committee," noted an operator.
"It is impossible for a whole Sacco to be led by four people only. Who will vet them," added the operator.
This comes a fortnight after a similar group of matatu operators in Nairobi threatened to go on strike over the lack of inclusion in the city upgrade programme by the Nairobi City County.
The operators accused the city managers of allowing renovation of the city walkways to happen without informing them, vowing not to relocate to other termini.
“Matatu operators have cited impunity and violation being carried out by the county govt without regard to constitutional requirements,” noted the matatu operators in a statement.
“There are creations of flowers and barricading of roads that we normally undertake our business and that is the bone of contention,” they added.
