Dorothy Kweyu
25 September 2008
opinion
Nairobi — A readers'letter in Talking Point' put it loud and clear. And she was in shock to learn that matatus play pornographic CDs.
"What kind of people are we becoming if we are exposing the young and the old to such things? And we wonder why the youth are promiscuous?" Ms Sarah Mulle of Nairobi posed on Wednesday.
What Ms Mulle may not know is that pornographic videos are the order of the day on most Nairobi routes.
And they only add to the litany of grievances over matatus, whose subculture has probably the most corroding effect on Kenyan youth, more so that there is scientific proof of a direct correlation between sexual promiscuity and violent crime.
The tragedy of the situation is that mobile videos have sucked in the youth so much so that, on the Buru Buru route 58, they are willing to pay Sh50 for the "entertainment", when they should pay Sh20 -- the off-peak fare.
Not only that; the nefarious designs of the conductors and drivers of those matatus, and dare I add, their owners, are evident in the fact that, older passengers are often denied entry.
On Eastleigh routes 9 and 4, those who board dare not complain. A young woman, who complained about the loud music and the semi-nude images on display was answered rudely: "Madam acha bwana kwani husikizi ngoma kama hizi? Wewe tuliza, acha kelele" (Madam calm down; don't you listen to such music? Calm down, stop complaining).
I have had to disembark from matatus that played music that I considered to be morally dissipating. On one occasion, I walked out with a man, probably my age, who was equally offended by the music, and we walked the rest of the way to our destinations.
But it is not always possible to do that when you are hurrying to get to a specific place, and as an elderly man, Mzee Mugo from Kitale said: "If I ask him (the driver) to turn off the music, he will tell me to find one without music." He added resignedly: "I guess it is their way of luring customers."
Mzee Mugo's is one way of dealing with the problem. But a more permanent way is needed -- one that takes into account the best interests of the majority of matatu users.
The last time I addressed the subject of pornographic content in matatu music, Media Council of Kenya chairman Wachira Waruru was quite clear: There has to be a complainant for action to be taken.
But that was about radio and TV, and it did not take into account the videos that are played on matatus, not to mention the mushrooming video dens that litter our neighbourhoods.
And yet there are laws in this country that deal with pornography, and they are to be found both in the Penal Code (Section 181(1)) and the Sexual Offences Act, Cap 3 of 2006.
What is lacking is the enforcement of the laws, probably in the mistaken belief that there are more important things to deal with.
Nothing could be further from the truth. You only have to watch the patrons of the matatu videos to realise that, as regards children's formation, Kenya is sitting on a time bomb.
Children, clad in school uniform, are the patrons of these matatus. The matatus entertain them, and they in turn entertain the drivers and conductors with sexual favours.
And we wonder about teen pregnancies and the booming abortion industry?
Given that the Transport ministry has totally failed to rein in errant matatus that flout the traffic rules, we would be asking too much to expect the minister to step into the matatu pornography issue.
Which leaves only one option: that parents of children who use public means show more interest in the vehicles their children board to school, so that they have an idea when the children leave home and arrive in school and vice versa.
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