The morning of Thursday, May 19 saw the eruption of chaos by disgruntled matatu operators plying the Waiyaki Way at Westlands in Nairobi after being asked to move from The Mall bus stop to pave way for the entrance of the Nairobi Expressway.

The matatus moved to block the entrance of the newly opened road which disrupted traffic flow in the area, protesting the move as they decried the lack of communication and planning by the Kenya National Highway Authority(KeNHA) to seclude a designated area that the terminus would be moved to mitigate any inconvenience in the normal flow of traffic.

Police rushed to the scene, lobbing tear gas canisters at the protesters, as they tried to control traffic as the snarl-up had lasted over an hour, stifling movement in and out of the city by motorists.

The matatu operators were demanding that a terminus be allocated to them in the area as it is one of the busiest stops that cater to a large number of commuters in the Westlands area.

Many motorists resorted to using alternative routes to avoid the fracas, while commuters were left stranded, and the police continued to nab the rowdy protestors as they scrambled to restore order on the busy highway.

At the time of publishing this article, order has been restored on the route with Kenyans imploring the roads authority to spring into action and find a solution to the problem, reminding them to take consider the thousands who rely on public transport as it continues to market the use of the new Expressway to those using the direct route to Mombasa road.

The Kshs 72 billion road began operations on Saturday, May 14.