Matatu Saccos have said that the government cannot control fares in the public transport sector, following the reduction in fuel prices because the sector is run and managed by private investors.
The Central Rift Matatu Sacco said that controlling fares in the transport sector will be hard because the fares are not only determined by fuel prices, but also other factors like distance being covered and the status of roads.
Speaking to our writer this afternoon in Nakuru, Central Rift Matatu Sacco chairman Stephen Muli said that just like the government has failed to control prices of food commodities in supermarkets; it will be hard for it to determine fares for matatu operators.
“The cabinet secretary for transport is talking about forcing matatu operators to reduce their fares whenever fuel prices go down but what he does not understand is that we have a lot of factors we look into before setting our fares along various routes,” said Muli.
“For instance, when a road leading to a particular destination is bad, definitely the fare will be high regardless of the fuel prices and therefore in such a scenario I wonder how the CS will tell us to lower our fares,” added Muli.
Muli added that the government can only control fares in a situation whereby it has invested in the transport sector and has its own vehicles operating like it is the norm in developed countries.
“In developed nations the public transport sector is controlled by the government and it becomes easier for the government to manipulate the fares being charged but since our sector is liberalized then it cannot be easy for the government to control the fares,” he said.