Transport Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen has spoken out in response to reports of a passenger who was allegedly stripped by matatu touts over bus fare payment.
According to reports shared on social media late last week, the passenger was a deaf woman who couldn’t express herself well in the matatu travelling the Nairobi-Meru route.
Photos shared on social media show a person seated in a matatu without clothes and with their undergarments slightly pulled down.
However, Murkomen said on Monday that investigations had revealed that the passenger was a mentally unstable man who had been deeply asleep while others paid their fares.
“On arrival at Nairobi Tea Room matatu terminus at approximately 10 am, the passengers alighted save for the male passenger who was still sleeping. On being roused up, he reportedly appeared confused and disoriented and did not pay the required fare,” the CS said in a statement shared on Twitter.
Murkomen stated that the passenger then began undressing inside the vehicle, after which police were called and escorted the vehicle and the passenger to Nairobi’s Central Police Station.
“Upon interrogation of the matter it was decided that the said passenger be returned back to Meru as he appeared unstable,” the statement added.
According to reports, the driver returned to Meru with the passenger and handed him over to the Meru Police Station.
“Police let him proceed home the following day as he appeared to have stabilized,” Murkomen said.
The CS said the person in question was not a woman, as reported on social media.
“The information being circulated on social media is distorted, as investigations have not established a case as portrayed in the media. The passenger in question is a man, not a woman,” Murkomen said.
