Matatu owners back in court over plan to face out 14-seater PSVs

A petition challenging a government plan to phase out low capacity public service vehicles has been filed at the high court.

24 matatu saccos through lawyer Mugo Githinji, argue that the  actions  of the  National Transport Safety  Authority (NTSA) are aimed at oppressing them in a bid to compel them to support the planned Rapid Bus Transport Scheme without a legislative framework for its implementation.

On Friday, Utimo Sacco, Walokana Sacco and Runka Sacco also filed a similar petition seeking orders blocking NTSA from implementing the phase out plan.

This move by the saccos comes after NTSA stopped the licensing of 14-seater matatus, throwing into confusion thousands of investors who operate on various routes across the country.

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Only 24 out of nearly 200 14-seater matatu saccos that last month obtained temporary court orders stopping the regulator from denying them licences are having their operating permits renewed.

There are more than 37,000 14-seater matatus on Kenyan roads, as per the Economic Survey data.

In December last year, High Court Judge Chacha Mwita gave orders prohibiting NTSA from effecting some sections  of Legal notice 179 of December 31 2014 when processing the Road Service PSV licenses for the petitioners until February 15th this year.

“An order of prohibition is hereby issued until February 15 prohibiting the NTSA from effecting Section 4(2) and 4(3) of Legal notice 179 of December 31, 2014 when processing the Road Service PSV licenses for the petitioners,” said Justice Mwita.

But despite the temporary reprieve for 14 seater matatus, the judge said that he will however issue a comprehensive ruling on February 15, 2019 since the government had already indicated that the first batch of 11 trains and 64 high-capacity commuter buses will arrive in Nairobi around that time.

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