President Uhuru Kenyatta (left) and Safaricom CEO Bob Collymore aboard a
matatu which took them from State House to KICC Wednesday to attend the
launch of universal cashless payment system MY 1963 card. PHOTO |
PSCU
By BDAfrica.com REPORTER
In Summary
- Matatu associations and savings and credit cooperatives have been pushing for the lifting of the ban on registration of 14-seaters.
President Uhuru Kenyatta has reined in his
Government’s plans to ban the use of 14-seater vans in the country’s
public transport sector.
The government will effect the ban in Nairobi and Mombasa,
but exceptions will be made to matatus operating in long distance routes
and in rural areas.
He also said he saw no reason to continue to
prohibit the colourful artwork that once made public service vehicles
icons of Kenyan creativity.
The Head of State intervened in the campaign to
push the low-capacity vehicles out of the matatu (public taxi) business
during the launch of a cashless payment system for public service
vehicles in Nairobi on Wednesday.
“After wide consultation and research involving my
Government and stakeholders, it has become clear that a blanket ban on
14-seater PSV, especially for long distance and rural transport, may not
be appropriate at this time," Mr Kenyatta said.
The announcement provides a lifeline for industry
players who were bracing for changes that would first force the vehicles
out of most urban centres and then see the vehicles phased out
completely.
The President was speaking at the Matatu Owners
Association National Delegates Council meeting. The event saw the launch
of the MY 1963 pre-paid card, one of several cashless payment systems
to be used on PSVs in the country. He urged industry players to use the
new cashless payment systems to provide better services and improve the
lives of both their employees and their passengers.
“We’re going to digital payments so that we can
have a regulated industry and create jobs through maximum collections,”
Matatu Owners Association chairman Simon Kimutai said. He added that use
of cash led to numerous losses and encouraged petty corruption when
traffic police stopped matatus.
The president also questioned one of the changes
introduced several years ago by then Transport minister John Michuki
requiring matatus to have one colour only, marked with a yellow line
across the middle.
“To be frank, why are we interfering with graffiti
on matatus?” he asked, recalling the days when colourful vans were the
norm. “Let us (support) our young people (if they wish to make a living
doing such artwork).”
Matatu associations and savings and credit
cooperatives have been pushing for the lifting of a freeze on new
registration of 14-seaters, which the National Transport and Safety
Authority began to enforce in December last year. They were also
opposed to plans to force 14-seater matatus already registered as PSVs
out of cities and towns, the most lucrative markets in the Sh200-billion
public transport sector.
Despite significant investment in larger mini-buses
and buses in recent years, 14-seater vans account for a significant
proportion of the private sector’s investment in a country with a weak
public transport system. The ban was proposed as a traffic decongestion
measure following the failure of several unpopular attempts to bar
low-capacity matatus from entering the Nairobi Central Business
District.
The MY 1963 card, issued by the Matatu Owners
Association, is developed by Fabre Space Limited and operated on a point
of sale terminal installed in compliant vehicles. It can be topped up
using Safaricom’s MPesa service.
Rival cashless systems include BebaPay (by Equity
Bank and Google) and Abiria Pay (from Kenya Commercial Bank, MasterCard
and Kenya Bus Services).
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