Nkaissery orders meeting between Uber and Kenya taxi operators

Some of the Kenya United Taxy Organisation (KUTO) drivers demonstrate outside Ufungamano house in Nairobi against UBER, the new and latest online taxy services provider in the country .

Nairobi: Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph Nkaissery has ordered that a meeting be convened between Uber management and the Kenya Taxi operators to agree on their operations.

Nkaissery said the current standoff between Uber and the traditional taxi operators should not be left to escalate to threat to national security.

He directed his Principal Secretary Karanja Kibicho to convene an urgent meeting between the two agencies to resolve an ongoing competition stalemate.

“This matter should not be left to escalate into unnecessary security threat hence need for urgent talks,” said Nkaissery.

Nkaissery said the government is committed to getting a lasting solution on the crisis after the taxi association demanded the exit of Uber from the Kenyan market.

While the taxi drivers accuse Uber of unfair competition, a cross section of Kenyans say Uber should stay because they are bringing healthy competition to the transport sector in Kenya.

Nkaissery spoke at the Kenya School of Government Thursday after meeting with top regional security commanders to strategise on various security issues.

Kenyans online attacked the directive by Nkaissery terming it illegal and populist aimed at pleasing a few in a free market.

Those who aired their anger said the operators should be provided with security and be let to operate without any interference.

The ministry had issued a statement and warned that action will be taken against anyone found interfering with the business of their rivals.

“Business rivalry should never be settled through attacks and intimidation but rather through established legal mechanism of resolving disputes,” spokesman Mwenda Njoka, Spokesman said.

This was in reaction to attacks by unknown people on Uber drivers and cars in the city.

Uber spokesperson Samantha Allenberg said Monday they had been engaging various taxi associations since last year, in a bid to resolve contentious issues.

“We are working with all relevant stakeholders in Nairobi to resolve this as a matter of urgency. We hope tourists, business travellers and residents alike can enjoy a safe, affordable, hassle-free time travelling however they choose to get around Nairobi,” she said.

“Uber is all about keeping Nairobi moving – connecting people to safe, reliable and flexible transport at the tap of a button.”

The taxi association has threatened to mobilise members to block key roads in Nairobi in a week’s time unless Uber exits the Kenyan market.

They met in Nairobi on Wednesday and issued the threats. Spokesman Mwangi Mubia said “there is no other way… Uber must get out of our business.”

The taxi drivers who have been accused of attacking Uber drivers appeared to turn the tables, saying they are the victims of the said attacks.

“They cannot accuse us of attacking them. It is they who have been attacking us while trying to get us out of business,” he told a news conference on Wednesday.

The row stems from claims that Uber is undercharging customers to run other taxis out of business.

The association has raised concerns over the entry of Uber taxi, which using a mobile app, are offering fares less than half the price charged by conventional taxis, a situation that has not settled in well with traditional taxi operators who will held a strategy meeting Wednesday.

Uber taxi app was launched in Nairobi in January 2015, with the US firm looking to leverage on the country’s 19 million mobile internet subscribers.

Uber users rely on a mobile application accessible on smart phones to organise taxi trips.

Clients submit requests and are in turn linked to taxi owners who have registered their vehicles on the network.

The attacks have added Nairobi to the list of over 300 cities where Uber has ‘disrupted’ the taxi business with fares as low as Sh90 a kilometer, almost less the price charged by ordinary taxis.

Traditional taxis operate from specific stations like in Nairobi’s Central Business District, which costs at least Sh6,000 per month in county government charges.

Uber taxi drivers, however, operate in hubs, where they get customers on call, sparing them parking space fees.

But the technology is facing problems in Nairobi because conventional taxi drivers say it has cut costs and is driving them out of business.