Politics on wheels

If you've been reading 8 Months for a while, you might remember these older posts about the minibuses that provide much of the public transport in Kenya.

Matatus are often decorated with decals of pop stars, sports idols, brand logos and various slogans.

The really suped-up matatus have deluxe vinyl padding on the ceilings, neon lights for nighttime commuters and flat-screen monitors that show the most recent music videos.

You can hear the sound systems of some of the matatus long before they pull over to the side of the road to pick up passengers. I try to avoid those buses. I value my hearing.

Occasionally matatus will be decorated with picture of one or two politicians. But in Mathare this weekend I was on the most political bus I have seen here. It was covered in headshots of only-one-name-needed politicians: Kofi, Hillary, Mandela, Obama.

I couldn't resist taking some pictures for 8 Months. I also couldn't help but wonder how often Obama and Hillary (and Kofi and Mandela, for that matter) are think of the people who travel on that bus.

Comments

[Dad Mzungu]

Hi
I was in Kenya when Kenyatta banned many matatus from the city centre, and became one of the thousands who had to walk to the business area.
But, when planning my trip home, sitting on a City Hopeless, sorry, Hoppa, I saw a bus with the word "Heathrow" painted on it.
Is this a new service to get me home? How does it compare with my usual carrier, Kenya Airways?
Dad Mzungu

[Dipesh Pabari]

Here's one for Kofi on another blog I saw today:
http://kilimanjarolion.wildlifedirect.org/2008/04/27/one-observation-of-the-absence-of-wannabee-gangsta-rappers-in-a-nissan-minibus/