It’s high time Rwandan taxi operators woke up

I stand in town, at the Rubangura stage together with weary crowds that are waiting for Kimironko taxis. Though, I’ve been here for the past two hours, I’ve totally failed to squeeze into the very few taxis that pick and drop passengers to Kimironko. Bad as it seems, the crowd keeps growing as time goes. Getting on board is a tug of war as the energetic force their way into the taxis. This has been a general problem for long. I don’t know if it is the taxis that are few at this particular time, but all I am sure of is the fact that most taxi drivers work at their own leisure. While our East African partners are earning awesomely out of the taxi business, here it’s upon the taxi owner to work at their own convenience. “I am enjoying the beauty of being self employed. I wake up when I feel like and retire whenever I feel like,” says Hassan Mungeri, a taxi driver. To him, one needs to get resting time when he is self employed. This has lately become a trend for local Kigali taxis. Some have even come to the extent of choosing who to take and who to leave. As many people blame this on the fact that these taxis do not fall under any travel companies, the likes of sotra, attraco, name it. When it comes to this business, Ugandan drivers are really flexible and will do anything to win customers. They’ll plead with you; wait for you and at times promise to reduce the fare if you only travelled with them. On the contrary, in Rwanda that kind of customer care is less. Even when a taxi is heading your direction, they won’t let you board if work is done or if they don’t feel like. Tatiana Ikirezi is a witness; she spent hours in an unsuccessful plea with different drivers to divert to Kimironko. Though the taxis were empty and the people at the stage were all heading to Kimironko, the drivers deliberately rejected them. In East African neighborhoods, drivers run uncountable trips during the day, if Rwanda adopted this; there would be no more evening crowds. In Uganda, however remote the area is it accesses taxi services. For Rwanda being in the taxi business means specializing in good roads. This has affected both passengers and the transport business. “I currently stay in Kimironko below the prison; I trek all the way to the main road to board a taxi,” says Chrodine Kabaziga. The Kigali taxi services have rejected the big room for development at their disposal. Other East African taxis work day and night; just dare go to Kigali city centre at 09:00pm without private means! You’ll choose between spending the night on the road side or paying an overwhelming amount on a bike. The bikers seem to value work more than the taxis yet it should be the opposite. Meanwhile to a Ugandan, boarding a taxi at anytime has never been a problem. “Taxis work for 24 hours, you can get one all the time,” says Joseph Bugabo, a Rwandan who has ever resided in Uganda. In Kenya taxis stop at or slightly past midnight. They have the urge to continue but for security purposes they can not. On the other hand, the Rwandan drivers have not utilized the security in Rwanda! They’ve chosen sleep over development. Such working conditions can’t allow Rwanda to catch up with the pace at which the East African community is developing. “Taxis influence out –put in work and also determine the arrival and departure time. If we can not count on them, development will be at stake,” warns Kabaziga. Ends