The National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) has suspended the operations of popular matatu Sacco Super Metro over what the authority termed as non-compliance with public service vehicles regulations and other set conditions.
In a statement published on Thursday, NTSA said the decision was necessitated by the need to ensure the company has put in place safety measures to protect the lives of its passengers and other road users.
“Members of the public are cautioned against boarding vehicles belonging to Super Metro Limited. The Traffic Department is required to impound vehicles belonging to the company found operating contrary to the suspension,” wrote NTSA.
The agency detailed that out of a fleet of 523 vehicles belonging to the Sacco, 15 had expired inspection certificates while eight others had expired road service licences.
On compliance with the maximum road speed limiters, NTSA noted that five vehicles had expired speed limiter certificates, 88 were not transmitting speed data, 171 had no speed limiter records, while seven others had no speed limiter vendor details.
A total of 109 vehicles within the Sacco were also found to be operating beyond the speed limit of 80 kilometres per hour.
NTSA further says that it has established that the credentials of the drivers assigned to the company’s portal do not meet the required qualifications, noting that this presents a major road safety risk.
“The company must present the 294 vehicles with various violations to the respective speed limiter vendors for compliance checks,” said NTSA, adding that the said vehicles must thereafter undergo checks at the Likoni Motor Vehicle Inspection Centre to obtain compliance reports.
“The company must (also) present 42 drivers, out of the 109 with speed violations, for a retest at the Likoni Driver Test Centre. We note that 64 of the company’s drivers failed a retest on March 10, 2025, and this led to the suspension of their respective driving licences,” the agency said.
Sack drivers
The Sacco has been ordered to immediately disengage unqualified drivers as well as present signed contracts for their staff, including proof of compliance with the labour laws, six months record of staff payroll and statutory deductions.
The company will also be required to conduct road safety sensitisation for all its drivers and submit to NTSA the report, photos, minutes of the session and attendance register in an exercise that shall be facilitated by the authority’s officers.
“The authority shall conduct a compliance audit on the company.”
The suspension comes against the backdrop of heightened public outcry following an incident where a passenger allegedly fell to his death in a dispute over fare.
The controversy had fueled calls for a customer boycott with some users accusing the Sacco of failing to curb misconduct among its crew, including reckless driving and loud music.
