Kisii Town was on Thursday gridlocked in an unusual traffic jam following the influx of first year students at Kisii University.
This was however a blessing to several bodaboda operators who took the chance to maximise on their profits.
The fare from Kisii Town was hiked from the normal Sh50 to Sh200 with the students’ chairman criticising operators for taking advantage of the situation. He accused the operators of exploiting students from different parts of the country.
“Students are an integral part of business in Kisii Town. It’s therefore unfair for the operators to take advantage of the situation. I am disgusted with the conduct and I want to encourage them to be patriotic enough and respect our customer-business relationship,” said Rodgers Nyanumba.
He threatened to present an official petition to bodaboda officials in the town for disciplinary action against those involved.
“I will soon write to their leaders to demand action because this isn’t the way things should be done. Students should never be exploited and they must know that,” he added.
However, the bodaboda operators defended their action and promised to reduce the price besides accusing the county for the recent rise of tax rates.
“We respect the law and we have no intention of exploiting students. Some of us go for a week without getting any profit so when we get a lifetime chance, we take it but the county should be blamed for hiking the tax from Sh600 to Sh800 per month,” said Clifford Nyachiro, an operator.