Matatu

In Kenya, matatu or matatus (known as mathree in Sheng)[citation needed] are privately owned minibuses used as share taxis.

[9] Kenya has one of the "most extensive regulatory controls to market entry",[11] and a matatu worker can be pulled from the streets simply for sporting too loud a shirt.

Writes one academic, "by the end of the 1990s, matatu operators were typically viewed... by Kenyans of all ranks as thugs who exploited and mistreated passengers and participated in gang or mafia-like violence.

These include a 2002 article titled "riding in Kenya's taxi vans is [a] death-defying experience"[25] and another from 1999 proclaiming that the "menace of deadly matatus [is] to be curbed.

"[23] Mistreatment of passengers has also been reported and includes: "verbal and physical abuse, theft, hijacking, ...sexual harassment, beatings, and rape.

[5] Today, Kenya has been described as having extensive regulatory controls, and a matatu worker can be pulled from the streets simply for sporting too loud a shirt.

[32] As of late 2010, Kenyan government policy is to phase out minibus matatu in the capital city Nairobi in favour of larger buses seating twenty five or more.

Currently, no new matatu vehicles can operate in Nairobi, and the existing ones will be allowed to continue serving passengers until they become completely inoperable.