They Rule The Streets

They will tell you, "if the music is too loud, guess what? you are too old, these you get from the "crew", who use vulgar words to anybody except the police and the city council askaris. They flaunt the roads of east lands with signs “Picture me rolling; they are the Prime East Sacco "Matatus" plying the busy "Jogoo road" of Nairobi destination Kayole.

90% of the customers are youths, they are attracted to these "Matatus", because of the swag that comes with them, even though the fare is a little bit expensive than other "Matatus". No youth will like to be seen alighting from any old "Matatu" than the latest hit in town.This is so common to the girls and ladies from these parts of town.

First things first, you get them in the downtown area of Nairobi commonly behind the infamous OTC stage, I guess the city council gave them this place because the rest of Nairobi cannot live up with the noise pollution caused by not only the "Matatus" but by the “crew”.

 From a distance I was attracted by the graffiti and being an artist this is what caught my eye. They wore nice tag I could figure out the poetry behind this and smiled to myself. Some had "Dolce and Gabbana", "Teflon London", if you ask some of the residents of Kayole what the names meant you will be surprised.

 

At a closer quarter I was greeted by the usual heckling and shouting of the ‘crew’, ‘Kayole Hamsini’ guess what time it was, 2pm not considered peak time. But I had to taste this new experience. I chose the latest and by the time of writing this KBT was the latest plate registration in the country So I boarded,

Once inside, It was a disco on wheels the music was so deafening and the big LCD TV playing latest videos; I could hardly hear the noise of the ‘crew outside begging other commuters to join the party. The inside was full of wallpapers especially the best that could attract the curious eyes of the youth, I liked the seats they were spacious and comfortable could hardly feel the bumps whenever we hit one.

When we hit the road the speed at which we moved, clearly summarized it all, “they rule the streets”. The experienced driver dodged other vehicles on the roads obviously flaunting traffic rules but we cared less because we were too engrossed in the music to take any notice of the outside world. In no short time we arrived at our destination very safe though with headaches from the loud music.

As we alighted one gentleman I could figure was in his mid-forties asked the “crew”, “Is it really necessary for the music, and for your shouting that I get on this Matatu? “One of the “crew” shouted back, ‘if the music is too loud, you know what? probably you are very old.”

Images courtesy of Prime East Ltd.

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