This archive report was first published on 25 October 2019.
On Tuesday, October 25, 2019, a bitter feud between Tuk Tuk and Matatu operators in Murang'a town escalated into a six-hour clash, paralysing businesses in the area.
The dispute, which has been ongoing for months, centered around loading bays, with the Matatu operators under MTS claiming that the Tuk Tuk operators were interfering with their designated passenger loading bay.
However, the Tuk Tuk operators insisted that they had been allowed by the county government to operate near their rivals.
According to Murang'a Governor Mwangi wa Iria, he had allocated the Tuk Tuk operators an operating place behind Maathai Supermarket, but the issue had not been resolved.
After the clash, the traffic police and Murang'a county government intervened, holding a crisis meeting with the operators to find a solution.
During the meeting, it was decided to swap the stages of the operators to avert chaos in the future.
Speaking to the press, Jackson Macharia, a Tuk Tuk operator, regretted the challenges they had gone through due to the misunderstanding in the transport sector.
"Now the issues have been ironed out after the parties met and received a stand," said Macharia.
Jeremiah Kamau, the Murang'a Municipal Manager, said that the decision to swap the stages was made after deliberations with other stakeholders.
"As the municipal board, after deliberations with other stakeholders, found it wise if they were separated. It was decided to swap their stages to avert chaos in future," said Kamau.
