When a matatu driver spots a police officer, he simply slows down and lowers the music. Once he passes, the volume knob gets a hard twist and the speakers blast back into action. Some people like loud music. A police officer on foot patrol had to leap for his life in a recent brush with a speeding matatu. They are maniacs,'' bystander Dan Karia said angrily.
Officers routinely stop matatus for speeding or having bald tires.
But in Kenya, where corruption is a way of life, the police checks are often just a pretext for soliciting bribes. Despite the crackdown, the matatu business is a lucrative one that pays well above the average wage of less than a dollar a day.