Murkomen orders investigations into disturbing matatu stripping incident
Transport Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen has announced that the police have initiated a full-scale investigation into a shocking incident in which a passenger was allegedly stripped on a Nairobi-bound matatu, operated by Meru Luxury Shuttle.
The incident, which ignited a social media storm, allegedly involved a deaf passenger being forcibly stripped for failing to pay the fare of Sh1,000.
“Investigations into this incident are ongoing, and a comprehensive report will be released soon. The incident has caused a public outcry and it’s only fair that we get to the bottom of this,” said Murkomen on Friday.
However, Dan Kanyamu, the Secretary for the matatu sacco, disputed claims of staff involvement and clarified that the passenger in question was not a woman as reported by some social media outlets.
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Mr Kanyamu said the incident happened when the passenger was asked to disembark in Nairobi at the Tea Room stage and he started undressing himself, which prompted the driver to rush to Central Police Station where he reported the matter.
“After some minutes of commotion, the young man began to unclothe himself. The driver immediately drove the vehicle to Central Police Station in Nairobi, where police officers had to coerce him to get dressed,” Kanyamu explained.
The incident is among the rising cases of public service vehicle operators going rogue and breaking traffic laws which in some cases have claimed the lives of passengers.
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In a case that attracted significant public attention, a Nairobi court in June 2020 convicted three men, who were part of a bus crew, of violent robbery and sexual assault on a female passenger.
The three – bus driver Nicholas Chege Mwangi, conductor Meshack Mburu Mwangi and petrol station employee Edward Ndung’u Kamau – were described by Nairobi Chief Magistrate Francis Andayi as reckless and barbaric.
The incident happened on a chilly September evening in 2014 when a woman entered a minibus on Ronald Ngala Street in Nairobi. After finding a seat at the back of the bus, she settled in and awaited the completion of passenger boarding. As the bus filled, she relaxed, removed her shoes and drifted into sleep.
Upon waking up, the woman discovered that the bus had reached Roysambu, just off the Thika Highway. She fell asleep once again but when she woke up later, she found herself alone in the bus. All the other passengers had disembarked at the final stop, and the bus was now parked at the Millennium filling station in Githurai 44.
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