The onerous life on wheels.

“I know the price of success: dedication, hard work and an unremitting devotion to the things you want to see happen” – Frank Lloyd Wright. Currently, life has not been easy for many Kenyans in various regions of the country following the plummeting value of the Kenyan shilling to major world currencies such as the US dollar and Chinese Yen.

The situation has pushed the cost of living up for virtually every Kenyan citizen, making it extremely difficult for them to budget their little income in an attempt to meet their basic needs. Joseph Wambani Wekesa, 34, who is a bodaboda operator in Kakamega town, has not been exempted from falling victim of the tough circumstances.

In an exclusive interview with TWTV at his three-room, rusty iron sheets-thatched home in Lurambi village, about two kilometers from Kakamega town, Wekesa narrated how life has proven to be a tough battle to conquer despite his unrelenting struggle to make ends meet. His day starts as early as four in the morning and ends as late as midnight.

“I wake up at four in the morning everyday to prepare for the long day ahead. Since my work is entirely physical, I am obliged to take a warm bath every morning to ensure that I feel rejuvenated. Moreover, if one does check on his personal hygiene, it may mean losing a number of potential customers since most passengers will opt for those who appear clean and well groomed. By the time I get back home I am exceedingly tired to do anything and just collapses on the bed without much ado,” Wekesa revealed.

He explained that one has to take a heavy breakfast to ensure that they have enough energy to see them through the long and laborious day. With the prevailing economic environment, Wekesa says that he and his family have opted for boiled sweet potatoes and cassava roots for breakfast given that affording a loaf of bread on daily basis is unfeasible.

Wekesa, a father of four, expressed how difficult it has become to provide school fees for his two daughters and two sons given that he is the sole breadwinner in the economically-challenged family. His family background is characterized with poverty with most of his relatives being jobless. He only owns a small piece of land which he inherited from his deceased parents. They use the plot to grow some maize and bean crops for subsistence food however the harvest is usually a few bags and does not last until the subsequent season.

“All bills and expenses are burden on me. My wife has no income-generating activity but spends her time running the household activities. Since I have no other job, I have to devote extra effort in my work to ensure that I put a daily plate of food on the table for my family as well as catering for other expenses like school fees, clothing, bicycle-maintenance cost  and medical bills among others. But hope that one day things will change for better keeps me going,” he narrated.

Wekesa only managed to pursue his education up to form four but he was not fortunate enough to perform well in the KCSE exams. He only managed to score a D+ and his parents were not able to take him to a college due to their poverty. With the low marks, Wekesa found it impossible to get a sponsor or well-wisher to enable him pursue higher education. As a result, his dream of becoming a civil engineer was suddenly cut short. And it is after three years out of high school that he found himself in the bodaboda business in endeavours to make his own living.

Bodaboda operators face a stiff competition in their day-to-day activities bearing in mind that there are so many of them yet the customers are not as many. To survive in the business one has to be agile and tactical in luring customers. Otherwise, one may end up carrying as few as twenty passengers in a day. A good customer relation is the secret to survive and prosper it the bodaboda operation.

“To make it within this highly competitive operation, I have adopted a few tips of convincing passengers by allowing room for negotiation of fare and ensuring that the charges I impose on them are fair depending on their destination. By so doing, my customers don’t feel pressed or overcharged. I also have to make certain that my bicycle is in a good condition to avoid unexpected breakdowns which imply incurring a loss. I take my bicycle for comprehensive servicing every Sunday,” revealed Wekesa.

Another challenge Wekesa together with other bodaboda operators face in the course of their work is the unwillingness of most passengers to pay the reasonable fare rates. Majority of the customers offer very little for long distances arguing that bodabodas should be cheap since they do not run on fuel like motorbikes and vehicles. According to him, this kind of attitude from their customers is quite disheartening.

Wekesa said that most of their customers don’t perceive their job just like any other source of livelihood. He complained that they even offer as little as ten shillings for a distance of more than two kilometers. He argued that people should come to comprehend that they too are facing the hard time prevailing in the country and that their services are as important as any other in the country.

“They don’t understand that this job is very tiring and unfortunately less-paying. If only they could understand that it is our sole source of livelihood and treat it with the respect it deserves, things could become a lot better for us. It is not that we enjoy doing what we do a lot, but it is the only option we have so far in life and people should not make it even more difficult for us, Wekesa whined.

Wekesa is a typical exemplar of majority other Kenyans who are wallowing in endless paucity of formal employment and excruciating poverty in various regions of the country. What keeps him going is hope and faith that things will change for better one day – one day.

[Thanks to Tom waita, A great writer and friend of 'De_Syoks', the literary goon.]