(Njogu Wa Njeri is a columnist and a trained journalist)
Over the past one week, our public transport system has experienced radical shake-up that can be felt far and wide.
Commuters and matatu operators alike have been on the receiving end of what is meant to be a once-and-for all restoration of sanity in the public transport industry.
The heat became unbearable when the no-nonsense Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i announced the crackdown on all PSVs with the intent to re-enforce the dreaded ‘Michuki rules’.
Fifteen years ago, Michuki rules were introduced and buried at the same speed and Kenyans reverted to thriving in their usual way until the need to revive the rules arose.
Recently, I was caught up in the ordeal. The driver of the bus we had boarded plying a certain route (name withheld) had to drive through some estates and hide until the traffic police withdrew from a strategic spot just because he had not fixed two window latches that were missing!
However, the major concern is not on how much commuters have been inconvenienced but on how long the sanity will last.
We all know Kenyans and impunity are cut from the same cloth. Passengers and staff are forced to comply with the laid-down rules for fear of rubbing law enforcers the wrong way.
But, when the heat drops and ‘normalcy’ returns, the same insane matatu culture will gradually crawl back and pick it up from where we left.
Barely two months ago, Kenyans were treated to a bizarre drama when a fleet of public service vehicles defied all odds and engaged the police in a street chase right in the middle of the city in broad daylight.
Further, in defiance of the proverbial saying “throwing a stone to a police station”; one of the matatus rammed into a police car inflicting serious damages, showing how impunity ran our public transport industry.
Fast forward to date, if the law enforcement unit and commuters will unite to ensure the new culture stays a little bit longer, perhaps the insanity we have been accustomed to will be gone and forgotten.
Nevertheless, only time will tell if this sanity we now have on our roads is here to stay or is a fad.
#hivisasaoriginal