TRANSPORT-KENYA: Taxi Drivers Say Road Safety Laws Cost Them Dearly

By IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

Joyce Mulama

NAIROBI, Feb 23 2004 (IPS) - Kenya’s transport crisis, which began earlier this month, is continuing to bite.

Since the introduction of reforms intended to restore sanity to the country’s roads, there has been a sharp drop in the number of minibus taxis – or "matatus" – that are operating. An umbrella organisation for taxi owners, the Matatu Welfare Association (MWA), claims that only 40 percent of the 40,000 taxis are currently on the roads, (MWA also asserts that matatus provide almost 80 percent of transport in Kenya).

Under new rules that came into effect on Feb. 1, all public service vehicles are obliged to install speed regulators and seatbelts to improve road safety. The regulators ensure that the vehicles, which previously drove at life-threatening speeds, do not go beyond the speed limit of 80 kilometres an hour.

The rules, introduced by Transport Minister John Michuki, have also reduced the passenger loads of public vehicles. Before the new regulations were effected, it was not unusual to find a 14-seater matatu carrying 22 passengers – while a 62-seater bus would also carry 62 standing passengers. Now, the load of these vehicles may not exceed their official seating capacity.

Police have been deployed in large numbers to deal with those who contravene the law, and failure to comply has led to vehicles being impounded, drivers arrested, and their licenses withdrawn. As the number of matatus still on the roads is not able to keep up with demand, thousands of commuters have taken to walking long distances to work and other destinations.

With traffic officials putting the number of lives lost in road accidents at approximately 3,000 every year, the new laws have probably been welcomed by some. Nonetheless, the MWA’s National Organising Secretary, Henry Ireri, says the safety regulations have also had a detrimental effect on the minibus taxi industry – reducing earnings from 1.6 million dollars to 700,000 dollars per day.

"The loss is colossal and one cannot imagine what we have missed since the new regulations came into effect," he notes. The MWA says matatus contribute 584 million dollars to the Kenyan economy annually, which amounts to 4.5 percent of gross domestic product – and that the loss of this income will make itself felt.

However, these concerns have elicited limited sympathy amongst the public, with analysts pointing out that many matatu drivers have simply doubled their fares to compensate for the loss of passengers.

"In fact, it is the commuter who should be crying foul because he or she has to spend more on transport," says Fredrick Muthengi, a researcher with the Nairobi-based Institute of Economic Affairs.

The price hike is contrary to government orders, and authorities have warned that they will start regulating fares if matatus persist with price increases. "Our stand still remains, and we are soon going to act," says Joseph Manyala, a public relations officer in the transport ministry.

Counters Ireri, "Government does not have a say when it comes to controlling prices. If it wants to compete with the matatu sector, let it introduce its own transport." At present, Kenya’s public transport system is completely privatised.

"Government does not control fuel prices. It is the market forces of demand and supply that determine the fares," he adds. "Once all mataus come to the road, the prices will eventually stabilise and business will be back as usual."

For the moment, authorities seem short on ideas as far as easing the transport shortage is concerned: "The government does not do the business of transport. It just regulates the sector," says Manyala. But fortunately, they have at least one positive statistic to hand.

Michuki claims there has been a reduction in the number of accidents during the three weeks that the rules have been in place. "Total accidents on our roads have gone down by 41 percent," he said last week.