Public transport federation leaders, including the Matatu Owners Association, have called off the nationwide fuel strike after talks with President William Ruto in Mombasa.

📻 Breaking It Down

NAIROBI, Kenya, May 22 — The Federation of Public Transport Sector (FPTS), including the Matatu Owners Association, on Friday called off the nationwide fuel strike following a high-level meeting with President William Ruto at State House Mombasa.

The operators announced the decision shortly after closed-door talks with the President, saying the government had agreed to address long-standing grievances affecting the transport sector, including insurance claims, auctioneering practices and fuel-related operating costs.

Matatu Owners Association of Kenya President Albert Karakacha praised Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja for supporting negotiations, saying counties had lost significant revenue during the strike.

📌 What You Need to Know

“We want peace in this country and we want to be united so that we can move forward,” Karakacha said. “Politics will come in 2027. Let’s build our country.”

“We are saying that the strike that we had suspended has been called off fully,” he added.

The strike, which entered its second day in several towns on Tuesday when the federation suspended it, had triggered major transport disruptions, forcing thousands of commuters to walk long distances after matatus and buses were withdrawn from the roads.

Transport sector leaders who flanked the President apologised to Kenyans for the chaos witnessed during the demonstrations, distancing themselves from incidents of violence and vandalism reported during the protests.

“We would like to first start by apologizing to the country for the time that we went on strike,” a Matatu Owners Association representative said.

“We realized goons infiltrated and maybe political interests came in and people lost their vehicles, schools were vandalized and other institutions. That was not us.”

📰 Source: Capital FM Kenya