The Standard Group Plc is a multi-media organization with investments in media
platforms spanning newspaper print
operations, television, radio broadcasting, digital and online services. The
Standard Group is recognized as a
leading multi-media house in Kenya with a key influence in matters of national and
international interest.
In 2017, a matatu registration number KCG 784 M overturned, killing four people and injuring six others along Lang’ata Road.
The matatu, then named Schizophreniac was ferrying passengers from Ongata Rongai to the city centre when the accident occurred in the afternoon of September 25.
Among those who perished included 19-year-old Cynthia Akoth, a student at Multi Media University (MMU) who had joined the institution barely a month before.
Following the accident, which resulted in the now disbanded NTSA (National Transport and Safety Authority) banning Ongata Line Sacco as a PSV operator, the matatu was taken to riko (fabrication) and renamed Ferrero Rocher.
Rocher started operating the CBD- Kitengela route under Wamasaa Investment Sacco.
Barely two months since it started plying the new route, the matatu has been involved in yet another accident.
Rocher tipped over while overlapping on Namanga road with police saying the accident occurred as a result of speeding. No fatalities were reported.
The accident comes seven months after another matatu operating the Ongata Rongai route dubbed Mixtape overturned along Lang’ata Road.
Concerns have been severally raised in the past over safety of matatus whose bodies have undergone modification, possibly altering the vehicles’ centre of gravity.
In a past interview with The Nairobian, one Frankilne Kirwa stated that “some of these mathrees are too heavy. Further, they lack emergency exits, which is mandatory. Something needs to be done.
There’s need for stricter implementation of the rules. Safety begins with all of us. Even passengers need to be careful when boarding these matatus.”
