Regulating music played in matatus relief for travellers

The decision by the Kenya Film Classification Board to crack the whip on Public Service Vehicles was long overdue. It's one of those long-awaited interventions on behalf of passengers who have constantly experienced harassment from rogue conductors and drivers.

There is so much rot in the transport sector. The board must ensure the new regulations on playing music inside vehicles are respected, especially in Nairobi.

This indecency needs to be dealt with appropriately even if it means taking non-compliant vehicles off the roads. City and trans-country matatus are especially notorious for screening Xrated content that exposes children to obscenity.

Most of them play loud music accompanied by videos that are highly sexualised, without minding who is watching.

They will not care if there is a mother travelling with her children, or whether the passengers are the age of their grandparents. Everything goes.

It gets embarrassing sometimes sitting next to someone the age of your parent while a dirty music video featuring semi-nude teenagers is playing loudly on some giant TV screen that you cannot ignore.

When asked, most drivers and touts say they do it to lure customers, and that every customer would like to be entertained.

Besides the music, there is the literature and pictures on the walls of many city matatus. Some are so obscene that one would not dare board some matatus with his or her family.

When children are exposed to videos of half-naked young men and women dancing in sexually provocative styles, there is a real risk of moral decadence, especially among teenagers.

Gradually, the sexualised content becomes part of their lifestyle, inflicting untold damage on the moral fabric of the community.

In addition, some of the music played in the matatus promote violence and have language that lowers the dignity of women. The situation is compounded further by the social media which glorifies sex.

Most of our youth spend a lot time on the social media. It is not hard to tell which sites they visit most.

As for matatus, it is the responsibility of the passengers to report those playing dirty music videos and painted with nude pictures.

May be Ezekiel Mutua and his board should consider creating a hotline for reporting such vehicles anonymously. 

Sebastian Kimeu, Nairobi.