Mohammed Hersi . A hotelier passionate about Tourism & Governance in Africa

Uber & Bolt in Kenya are NOTHING but modern day slavery.

I have in the past hailed an Uber but yesterday I decided to try Bolt.

While this taxi hailing services have disrupted the taxi business which has been beneficial to buyers but we must also strike a balance so that this young men and women do not trade below the cost line .

From my office to my residence at peak time a distance of 8KM how on earth do you charge Ksh210 in other words less than $2.

Lets face it before the Ubers ,Bolts and Little cab came to town fact is that Taxis really used to exploit users. Where Bolt is now forcing them to take Ksh210 they used to ask for Ksh1500.

I was embarrassed to pay Ksh210 since I know the cost of fuel alone has hit Ksh152 in Mombasa and on top of that the driver is meant to pay 25% of that to App operator so what would he then take home?

I engaged the cab driver and he told me some well connected chaps are protecting these taxi hailing operators. He went ahead to tell me that they prefer little cab since both Uber and Bolt is nothing but depression for them.

While we support free market, we must also protect these SMEs from exploitation. Surely how on earth do you charge Ksh30 per km , even AA rates were only that low in the 90s.

We politic too much that we forget to care for the guys at the bottom of the pyramid, talk of a broken system.

I challenge GOK to fix this anomaly, not everything is left to open market. There is a reason why Germany and many other countries even banned Uber , I am not suggesting we ban them but this rediculous costing that makes no business sense ought to be corrected like yesterday.

I am strong believer in win win and never win lose.

Are we that helpless….drivers in Kenya should come together and get their own App and move out enmass but don’t go back to your your old bad ways , once beaten twice shy. Learn from your humbling experience and be reasonable.

As always I choose to remain an optimist.

Mohammed Hersi
Mombasa