ABSTRACT

This chapter examines crime, violence and safety in and around the matatu sector as a fare-paying-passenger transportation field in Kenya. It clarifies what constitutes crime, violence and safety, and how these concepts are utilized in and around the matatu sector. Violence is 'the intentional use of physical force or power, threatened or actual, against oneself, another person, or against a group or community, that either results in or has a high likelihood of resulting in injury, death, psychological harm, maldevelopment, or deprivation'. The matatu stages often attract unemployed and economically marginalized young people, and to a lesser extent other sections of society, older men, women and even children, who use matatu stages as arenas for making a livelihood. The matatu industry has been associated with violence and crime, often leading to the sector being perceived negatively by the public. The crime and violence in the matatu partly reflects the crime and violence prevailing in broader Kenyan society.