Police in Nairobi have removed number plates and towed matatus that were blocking streets in the ongoing nationwide matatu strike.
Photos and videos shared on social media show officers, some carrying teargas canisters, detaching number plates before towing the vehicles to various police stations. The move is aimed at restoring traffic flow in the central business district (CBD).
Removing number plates is a standard measure used by traffic officers and the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) to immobilize vehicles breaking the law. Vehicles without plates cannot legally operate, and owners must pay fines to retrieve them.
Police were also seen using teargas to disperse operators protesting the rising number of vehicles being set on fire by boda boda riders. Key blocked routes included Outering Road at Kariobangi Roundabout, sections of Tom Mboya Street, Ronald Ngara Street, and Waiyaki Way, which affects commuters heading to Uthiru, Kabete, Kinoo, Kikuyu, Nakuru, and Western Kenya. Motorists along the Thika Superhighway also faced severe traffic delays after operators blocked parts of the road with stones and vehicles.
The strike began on January 28, triggered by the government’s slow response to growing hostility against public transport operators. On January 31, the Motorist Association of Kenya (MAK) announced that transport workers, private car owners, and truck drivers would halt operations in solidarity with the matatu operators.
MAK reported that at least nine vehicles, including matatus, buses, trucks, and private cars, have been torched by mobs following road incidents involving pedestrians or boda boda riders in areas such as Juja, Luanda in Vihiga County, and along the Thika Superhighway.
“These acts represent millions of shillings in losses, destroy years of hard work in minutes, and put innocent passengers, drivers, and bystanders in mortal danger,” MAK said. The association added that such incidents show a “frightening breakdown of law and order, where mob justice has replaced due process and silence has replaced leadership.”
