Motorists Association distances itself from deal ending Matatu strike
Motorists Association distances itself from deal ending Matatu strike
The Motirists Association of Kenya (MAK) has accused unnamed industry leaders of secretly negotiating with government officials to call off a nationwide transport strike, leaving the broader coalition blindsided and outraged.
In a statement on May 20, the association, alongside other sidelined groups, says the secret meetings were held without the knowledge or consent of alliance partners who had spent days organising the protest.
“The Motorist Association of Kenya (MAK), together with all transport stakeholders who were sidelined in the recent negotiations, wishes to strongly condemn the dishonest and underhanded actions of a few industry players who secretly called off the planned transport sector strike without the knowledge or consent of their partners,” stated MAK.
The planned strike had united groups from the truck owners, trailer operators, taxi and cab associations, bus companies, tour drivers, digital boda boda riders, cargo transporters, pickup owners, private motorists, and ordinary Kenyans alike.
The trigger for the planned strike was a cumulative fuel increase of up to Ksh76 per litre, covering diesel, petrol, and kerosene, costs that have driven up transport fares and food prices.
After the secret talks, the group that broke ranks returned with a Ksh10 reduction on diesel alone, which the Energy, Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) on May 18, a deal that MAK and other stakeholders flatly describe as a “surrender, not a victory.”
According to the statement, some individuals held covert meetings with the Energy and Petroleum Cabinet Secretary Opiyo Wandayi, Roads and Transport Cabinet Secretary Davis Chirchir, Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen, and Nairobi Governor Johnsohn Sakaja on May 19 in direct violation of the alliance’s rules, which required government officials to face the full coalition.
“Unfortunately, as has happened before, a few familiar actors went behind the backs of everyone else and held covert meetings with government officials, including Cabinet Secretaries and the Governor of Nairobi,” stated the statement in part.
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The alliance has one fundamental rule, as per the notice, that no single subsector is authorised to negotiate alone.
MAK points to a disturbing pattern, noting nearly identical betrayals in 2018 and 2024, with some members going out of their way to negotiate with government stakeholders in parallel meetings, which in the long run bear no meaningful results.
MAK also slammed the media for framing the protest as being organised by a single sector, affirming that some individuals were given more of a spotlight, while the broader coalition’s grievances were quietly sidelined and forgotten.
The sidelined stakeholders have categorically rejected the deal, further noting that those who negotiated it did not sign any binding document, thus putting a cast of doubt on the longevity of the deal signed on May 20, postponing the strike by a week.
The statement also notes that the government knows exactly which actors repeatedly mobilise the public, only to abandon them once personal interests are met, calling it a cycle that has gone on too long, even as the next round of negotiations is to take place soon.
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