[kictanet] A true innovation?

[Andrea Bohnstedt]

Robert, I didn't call anyone anything.

It's a well-known fact that the matatu business is a cash business - I
haven't looked up the data, but I doubt that there is any taxation that
captures anything near the actual turnover in the business. This is not
unique to the matatu business, but it certainly is the case here. And in the
context of our discussion, it is a strong disincentive to employing systems
that would, as a side effect, capture all cash transactions - even more so
when you can't legally offset some of the costs of your business.

You can see matatus paying off policemen at all cornerns of the city (and
I'm sure that everyone on this list who drives has been hit on by police for
a bribe. I certainly have). It's a cost to public transport operators.
There's also plenty of publicly available evidence about the links between
the matatu industry and organised crime like Mungiki. Again, paying
protection money is a cost if you run such a business (and if you don't,
your business won't survive long).

That technology can make transactions vastly more transparent is its
strength - but also often acts as a disincentive in deploying such systems,
whether in government or in private businesses. I seem to recall that the
introduction of ETRs wasn't so popular either. Again, this is by no means
unique to Kenya, but it's an important factor to consider when pushing for
the implementation of technical innovation: There may well be non-technical
reasons that are a powerful obstacle. Not unsurmountable, of course, but if
you want to implement new technology, you need to understand what could
create problems.




On 27 June 2011 12:28, Dennis Kioko <dmbuvi at gmail.com> wrote:

> KBS and Citi Hopa are glorified matatu managers. At the moment, the owner
> of the matatu pays them a fee to have their matatu as part of the franchise.
> I guess then that the owner then demands a daily amount from the crew, much
> the same way other crew operate.
>
> I think that with the formation of other Saccos, it's a matter of time
> before they are done. Citi Hoppa even has a reputation of dropping
> passengers off before their destination. Compare the Double M Eastland
> queues to Citi Hoppa who instead have the matatu's queueing looking for
> people.
>
> The City Centre has long been their forte. It's time other Saccos were
> allowed to bid for the city centre
>
> _______________________________________________
> kictanet mailing list
> kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke
> http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet
>
> Unsubscribe or change your options at
> http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/andrea.bohnstedt%40ratio-magazine.com
>
> The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform for
> people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and
> regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT
> sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development.
>
> KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors
> online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth,
> share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do
> not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.
>



-- 
Andrea Bohnstedt <http://ke.linkedin.com/in/andreabohnstedt>
Publisher
+254 720 960 322

www.ratio-magazine.com
Find/post East Africa careers<http://www.ratio-magazine.com/careers/index.php>
Find/post conferences, workshops, trainings, other business
events<http://www.ratio-magazine.com/businessevents/index.php>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/pipermail/kictanet/attachments/20110627/252a24f2/attachment.htm>