Innovators put power to stop road carnage at passengers’ fingertips
By Lillian Kiarie
Updated Tuesday, March 4th 2014 at 00:00 GMT +3
 |
|
The innovators behind Matserve mobile app Kamau Nyabwengi (left) and John Mwaura. |
By Lillian Kiarie
Nairobi, Kenya: A chance meeting in a bus at Nairobi’s Kencom stage reunited two high school friends, and led to the creation of a mobile application aimed at reducing road accidents through community and social traffic policing.
What is Matserve about?
Matserve Msafiri is a road safety Android application aimed at curbing road carnage.
Each year, several families are left destitute after they lose their loved ones or see them left paralysed and unable to work after a road accident.
Matserve detects the exact speed a vehicle is moving at, putting the power to act in the hands of passengers. They can lodge complaints in real time that can be acted upon instantly by the authorities.
You are unveiling the app as Stripes Biz Solutions, tell us more about the company?
Matserve Msafiri is one of the flagship projects of Stripes Biz Solutions, a company run by two former high school classmates, Kamau Nyabwengi and John Mwaura. Mwaura holds a degree in computer science, while Kamau has a degree in entrepreneurship.
Before we started Matserve Msafiri, Kamau was working as a consultant for startups and established an online community, the Young Entrepreneurs Network Kenya. Mwaura worked in software development.
What is your selling point with this app?
Using two key features, community policing can be enhanced through reports of road menaces such as speeding, overloading and corruption.
The Speed Check function detects the exact speed a vehicle is moving at. If a driver speeds, a notification is sent out with details of the time and speed of the vehicle. This information can be used by the bus company or traffic police.
