Since the first case of Covid-19 was confirmed in Kenya by the Ministry of Health (MoH) in March, many Kenyans in different sectors have experienced a loss of income; be it through wage cuts, lay offs, redundancies or a drop in earnings.
Taxi drivers, particularly those in urban centres, have not been spared. They, along with hundreds of Kenyans who had invested in ride-hailing services, have seen a surge in their cars being auctioned.
Poring through auction notices published by leading banks in local dailies as well as car auction websites, Kenyans.co.ke established that fuel efficient, budget-friendly vehicles made up a significant chunk of cars repossessed by banks since May, 2020.
Many of the models up for auction are considered ideal for the pocket-friendly tiers of digital ride services. As conversations with taxi drivers and users of the different hailing services revealed, multiple reasons have contributed to the situation for the industry.
Rafa, a taxi driver based in Lang'ata, Nairobi, noted that he had seen a big drop in his earnings as many Kenyans were not out and about as compared to the pre-Covid-19 period.
He observed that the night-to-dawn curfew, closure of bars and nightclubs as well as advice from the government for citizens to stay at home had impacted their income.
"You know, on a normal night there were over 100 cabs for example just outside one well-known nightclub. Now imagine the situation across the city when no one is allowed outside past 9.30 p.m. and bars are closed. Those revelers who were a big part of our clients are now drinking at home.
"Kagwe [Mutahi - CS Health] is also telling people to stay home to stay safe. Many of our long-time clients are working from home, they used to use cabs almost everyday for meetings and other errands, so it's tough," he stated.
Rafa noted that he had stayed afloat by adopting best practices including maintaining hygiene in his car and offering hand sanitisers to clients, ensuring they stay in the backseat for social distancing among other measures.
Other drivers have gone the extra mile and introduced transparent barriers separating the front seats from the backseats in a bid to lower the chances of contracting the virus.
He further observed that the woes were in addition to frustrations raised by drivers even before the Covid-19 pandemic, such as the distribution of earnings.
Conversations with several long-time users of ride-hailing services, show that they had been using the services less during the Covid-19 period, as they were spending more time at home.
There were exceptions, however, as others noted that they were using ride-hailing services even more compared to the pre-Covid-19 period to beat the curfew when coming from work.
Others also noted that they preferred ride hailing services over public transport during the Covid-19 period as they felt there was greater adherence to protocols meant to curb the spread of the virus.
"I haven't used a digital ride hailing service in the entire period because I've been home mostly. I wouldn't even know if they hiked their fares," stated one respondent.
"Nowadays it depends, I barely go anywhere and when it's not important, I use public transport to cut on costs," stated another.
"I use it even more nowadays because my employer has made arrangements especially with the curfew," another disclosed.
