A section of Matatu operators plying Thika Super highway route have blocked roads in protest of bus company Super Metro’s entry in the area.
The operators from Kahawa West, Roysambu, Zimmerman and Githurai 44 blocked roads at Lumumba drive to protest the Super Metro’s operations.
The protests have caused a shortage of matatus plying the Thika Super Highway route to different areas.
Esther Shiro of Sunbird says that Super Metro buses are new buses hence the competition since the other saccos have old buses.
Shiro has also accused other saccos of not treating their clients and workers well by denying them their dues hence the migration to Super Metro.
“We work for long hours and even after working for long hours they don’t pay you properly. You still have to wait until all buses have finished their trips,” said Shiro.
Robert Gachoka, Super Metro Manager stated, “We started to operate here due to demand from residents. When we got the request, we came and surveyed the area, after the survey we decided to get a space and set it aside for our vehicles because we did no want to cause trouble,
“Unfortunately just after setting base, the other Sacco operators started to fight us. They have blocked the road to our stage and now we are unable to carry customers,
Gachoka has called on the other sacco operators to instead borrow a leaf from them on how they handle their customers instead of fighting them.
According to them, they got the space legally and will continue to operate.
Super Metro on Monday announced free rides to and from Kahawa West area. This was after it announced new route between Nairobi CBD and Kahawa.
Some of the saccos affected by uthe entry of Super Metro include, Nazigi, Rukagina, Sunbird, Super Tram and Zuri.
