They inconvenienced commuters and drew the wrath of taxi drivers, but have Kenya’s new transport regulations also managed to make traffic conditions in the country less hazardous?
At the start of February this year, the government implemented a series of regulations aimed at reducing mayhem on the nation’s roads.
These rules stipulate that all public service vehicles should be fitted with safety belts as well as speed regulators that restrict their travelling speed to 80kph. Drivers and conductors are also required to get a certificate of good conduct from Kenya’s Transport Licensing Board and to start wearing uniforms for easy identification.
In addition, matatus (mini-bus taxis) — which provide about 80% of Kenya’s public transport — are restricted to carrying no more than 14 passengers rather than their customary 18 or 20. Small buses that used to transport up to 60 people at a time have had their passenger load cut to 24, while larger buses that carried more than 120 passengers have been given a limit of 62.
Few disputed the need for reform of the country’s transport sector — as travel in matatus, in particular, had tended to be a nerve-wracking experience.
Touts for these vehicles would yell at the top of their voices, calling customers to board matatus that tended to be parked anywhere — and anyhow. The overloaded taxis would then take off at breathtaking speed, inevitably causing accidents as they raced along the roads. According to official statistics, about 3 000 lives have been lost in road accidents yearly.
En route, the touts would turn up whatever music was playing in the vehicle to a deafening volume. Complaints by commuters who couldn’t hear themselves think tended to be disregarded — or greeted with insults.
The short-term effect of the new regulations was to transform Kenya into a so-called ”walking nation”.
Hundreds of vehicles that could not meet the new standards were taken off the roads, forcing thousands of commuters to trek long distances to and from work. According to the Kenya Commuters Welfare Association, about 3,8-million Kenyans rely on public transport to get about.
But five months on, have matters improved? That depends on whom you ask.
The commuters’ association is less than sanguine about the effectiveness of the new regulations.
”There is not 100% compliance. We have seen many matatus still driving at 140kph, meaning that the speed governors have been tampered with,” Mwangi Wakibi, chairperson of the association, said in an interview.
”Others have no safety belts and loud music is still a feature in these matatus,” he added. ”There is laxity among the traffic police in cracking down on non-compliant vehicles.”
According to the Registrar of Motor Vehicles, only 22 000 of the 40 000 matatus that ply Kenya’s roads had met the requirements for speed governors, seatbelts and the likes by June 2004. Now, just below 25 000 are legally back on the roads.
But, police have rejected Wakibi’s allegations.
”The crackdown on defiant matatu operators is still going on — some of them have been arrested,” said Michael Baraza, an officer in charge of traffic affairs in Nairobi.
Authorities also claim that accidents have declined markedly — and that fatal accidents have been reduced by 56%.
”It is a fact that there is a big difference — a drastic drop in the number of accidents, especially due to the introduction of safety belts and speed governors,” said Baraza.
In at least one respect, however, the regulations appear to be an undisputed success: by edging the rowdy and chaotic matatu sector towards respectability, they have succeeded in attracting more women to working in it. Njoki Mwihaki is a case in point.
After five years of unemployment, she landed a job as a conductor in one of Nairobi’s matatus in March this year.
Mwihaki now earns almost $4 a day, which enables her to meet basic living costs.
”I looked for a job and found none. Then I decided to seek an opportunity in this field. I do not get much, but half a loaf is better than none,” she said.
According to Dickson Mbugua, national chairperson of the Matatu Welfare Association — which caters for matatu workers — 380 women across the country have found employment in the sector, which for years was considered the domain for men.
”The women have been recruited as touts, drivers and clerks,” he said in an interview, noting that drivers can earn more than $6 daily.
Data from the Central Bureau of Statistics indicates that about 17% of Kenyans are currently unemployed. While the jury may still be out on whether Kenya’s new transport regulations make for a more comfortable ride on the way home, the fact is that they’re helping to make a dent in unemployment — and that’s no small feat. — IPS