A video circulating online has captured a tense moment after a matatu tout confronted a passenger over an alleged falsified bus fare transaction message.
In the clip, a Forward Travellers matatu tout is seen angrily grabbing a young man by the neck and shoving him to the edge of the back seat where he was seated.
“Unaniforwardia message ya nini hapa wewe? Huoni uko na makosa?” the tout is heard barking at the visibly shaken passenger.
“Uko na mchezo, unaniforwardia message kwa nini?” he continues.
From the footage, it appears the passenger had presented a forwarded transaction message as proof of payment for his bus fare.
The tout, clad in the signature green uniform, quickly noticed the discrepancy and confronted him.
As the situation escalates, the passenger is heard pleading with the tout to let him go and allow him to pay genuinely.
“Niwachilie bana, si ndio hii nakutumia?” the distressed passenger says as other passengers begin to intervene.
“Mtumie tu pesa iishe,” a voice from behind the camera suggests.
The video has since gone viral, drawing mixed reactions from social media users.
“Heeeh karibu amwekele,” quipped Golden Barbie on Instagram.
Brian Jackson joked, “Una forward message ndani ya Forward Travellers bana.”
“From reversing to forwarding,” added another user.
With the widespread adoption of mobile money services in Kenya, matatus operating across different routes have increasingly embraced mobile money payments to meet passenger demand.
In such cases, passengers are often required to show their transaction confirmation messages as proof of payment.
While most transactions are legitimate, concerns persist over passengers who allegedly falsify messages or fake transactions to con unsuspecting touts.
Barely a fortnight ago, another video surfaced showing a man editing a message to make it appear as though he had paid his bus fare, an incident that also sparked widespread online discussion.
At the same time, data protection and legal experts have repeatedly raised concerns over the risk of data breaches when merchants demand to view customers’ payment messages.