NAIROBI, Kenya — National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) Director General Nashon Kondiwa has dismissed the long-running controversy over graffiti-covered matatus, arguing that the real challenge facing Kenya’s public transport sector lies in its opaque financing structures and informal operating model.
Speaking during Citizen TV’s Monday Report, Kondiwa said public debate has focused on superficial issues while ignoring the deeper governance and investment problems affecting the matatu industry.
“Graffiti, and the nyoka nyoka craziness we have in public transport, are symptoms of the model we are operating,” Kondiwa said.
“If you want to fight graffiti, get these operators to be organised into some formality, and then we will not even be discussing graffiti. For me, discussing graffiti is discussing the symptoms of a problem.”
His remarks come years after legal disputes and regulatory debates over the use of graffiti and artistic branding on public service vehicles, a feature that has become synonymous with Kenya’s popular “nganya” culture.
Kondiwa said the issue has never been a regulatory priority during his tenure, despite court rulings and political directives touching on the matter.
“From where I sit, graffiti was not an issue. The ruling came some years back when I was the DG, but for me and in all my efforts, I was not going to put my thoughts on graffiti because it is not a problem, it is a symptom of a fundamental problem,” he said.
The NTSA chief identified the sector’s financing arrangements as one of the authority’s biggest concerns, saying regulators have limited visibility over who owns, finances and ultimately controls many matatu operations.
“There’s no industry where the regulator does not know who the investors in the sector are. If you go to telecommunications, where I used to belong, the regulator knows all the investors in that sector. In the matatu industry, I don’t know,” he said.
“I don’t know who the investors are. I don’t know where the money comes from. I don’t know whose interests they are running. That’s the number one big problem.”
According to Kondiwa, the sector is heavily influenced by informal financiers, SACCOs and companies whose primary business has no direct connection to public transport operations.
He further questioned the sustainability of many matatu businesses, noting that operators frequently enter and exit the market within short periods, making it difficult to assess profitability and long-term viability.
“The death rate of these operators is quite alarming. A very good operator today, in the next three months, does not have a bus,” he said.
Kondiwa also raised alarm over worsening road safety statistics, revealing that Kenya has recorded 2,150 road deaths so far this year, an increase of about 11 per cent compared to the same period in 2025.
Pedestrians account for the highest number of fatalities at 836 deaths, followed by motorcyclists. Driver fatalities have also increased, with 188 drivers losing their lives on Kenyan roads this year.
Last year, the country recorded 3,005 road deaths, with NTSA estimating the economic cost of road crashes at about Sh450 billion annually.
However, Kondiwa said international estimates by the World Health Organization and the World Bank place the economic impact closer to Sh800 billion, warning that road carnage could consume up to 10 per cent of Kenya’s Gross Domestic Product by 2030 if urgent interventions are not implemented.
“The numbers are not really good,” he said.
