Tuk tuk operators give Makau Mutua seven days to apologise over “pathetic contraptions” remark
Tuk Tuk Operators press briefing
Presidential adviser’s dismissal of the three-wheeler industry sparks a nationwide backlash, as operators warn of legal and street action should no apology be forthcoming
By MKT Reporter
Kenya’s tuk tuk industry issued an ultimatum yesterday to Professor Makau Mutua, giving the presidential adviser on constitutional affairs seven days to withdraw remarks in which he described the three-wheeled vehicles as “pathetic contraptions” unfit for the country’s roads.
The Tuk Tuk Operators Network (TTON), the umbrella body representing operators across more than thirty counties, said it would consult its members nationwide and consider “lawful, peaceful, constitutional, and democratic measures” if Mutua failed to apologise within the stipulated period.
The row traces back to 2 July, when Mutua took to X to argue that tuk tuks had no place on Kenya’s major roads and highways. “Why do we have tuk tuks on major roads and highways, even in Nairobi? We shouldn’t,” he wrote. “These pathetic contraptions aren’t roadworthy. They obstruct traffic, are completely unsightly, and degrade our capital city. Please remove them from our major roads in cities and towns.”
The comments, posted in his capacity as a senior adviser to President William Ruto, reignited a debate on urban transport that Mutua himself had stirred a year earlier, when he called for a total ban on boda bodas from the country’s major cities and towns.
Speaking on behalf of the sector yesterday, TTON National Chairman Vincent Were said the remarks were “unfortunate, inaccurate, demeaning, and dismissive” of the hundreds of thousands of Kenyans whose livelihoods depend on the industry.
“We are taxpayers. We are investors. We are employers. We are job creators. We are nation builders,” Were said. “We deserve recognition, not ridicule.”
According to figures cited by the network, Kenya has roughly 250,000 registered tuk tuks, directly supporting more than 750,000 licensed drivers operating on a shift basis, and sustaining well over a million livelihoods once owners, mechanics, financiers, insurers, spare parts dealers, fuel stations and manufacturers are factored in. TTON estimates that a minimum of 150,000 tuk tuks generate KSh1,000 each in daily revenue, translating to roughly KSh4.5 billion a month and an annual economic contribution in the region of KSh54 billion, before accounting for fuel levies, registration fees, insurance, licensing and county permits.
Were argued that the sector, which has grown rapidly since the rollout of the Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda, moves close to six million passengers daily to workplaces, schools, hospitals and markets, and has consistently maintained cordial working relations with the National Police Service, county administrations and other security agencies.
He cautioned that inflammatory remarks directed at an organised sector risked provoking “emotional and reactive responses” from operators spread across the country, particularly as Kenya heads into an electioneering period, though he stressed this should not be mistaken for a threat to peace and stability, which the sector’s leadership has consistently worked to safeguard.
TTON also used the statement to press the case for tuk tuks as a vehicle, quite literally, for Kenya’s clean energy transition, pointing to opportunities in electric mobility, local assembly and battery-swapping technology that the sector says it stands ready to develop in partnership with government.
The network closed its statement with a direct appeal to President Ruto for a hearing, expressing confidence that he appreciates the informal transport sector’s contribution to employment and revenue generation, and requesting an opportunity to present the industry’s case directly to him.
Mutua’s remarks drew swift criticism online, with business figures, transport stakeholders and ordinary Kenyans arguing that operators in lawful enterprise deserved dignity rather than public ridicule. He had made near-identical arguments against boda bodas in July last year, branding them chaotic and undisciplined, a claim that likewise drew condemnation from the Boda Boda Association of Kenya.
As of yesterday, neither Mutua nor the Executive Office of the President had issued a public response to TTON’s ultimatum.
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