The meeting was to be attended by the Inspector General of Police, The Kenya Taxi Cab Association chairman, the Uber Kenya General Manager and the Director General of the National Transport and Safety Authority.
NAIROBI, Kenya, Feb 8 – Interior Principal Secretary Karanja Kibicho was on Monday morning due to meet with Uber operators and their rivals in Kenya in a bid to iron out the differences between them.
A statement from the ministry indicated that the stakeholders in the meeting are expected to find a long lasting solution to the misunderstanding between them.
“In the recent past, there has been misunderstanding between Uber-Kenya and rival taxi operators in some parts of Nairobi resulting to incidences of lawlessness,” the statement explained.
“Consequently, the Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Interior and Coordination of National Government has directed the Principal Secretary Interior to meet with all the stakeholders in an effort to find a long lasting solution to the issue,” it stated.
Uber has been praised for its convenience and affordability by the residents of Nairobi, who seem to shun conventional taxis.
The conventional taxis have since issued a seven-day ultimatum for the crisis to be resolved with operators threatening to block key roads in Nairobi unless Uber exits the Kenyan market.
While the rivals accuse Uber of unfair competition, a cross section of Kenyans interviewed Capital FM News said Uber should stay because they are bringing healthy competition to the transport sector in Kenya.
On Wednesday, Members of the Kenya Taxi Cab Association termed the entry of Uber taxi services in Nairobi as ‘neo-colonialism’ of the transport sector.
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