Lady cab driver: Gender no reason to dismiss me

Driving a cab requires knowledge of the roads, traffic patterns, good navigation skills and customer service, patience and the ability to handle various situations effectively.

Clearly, these skills are not gender-specific, and anyone can excel as a cab driver.

Despite this, lady cab driver Jenny Kairetu says there is a perception in society that female drivers cannot offer services as well as men.

In an interview with the Star, the 33-year-old said some believe that women are not good enough.

The mother of two has been a cab driver for almost three years now, and is the founder and CEO of Habibi Taxis Limited.

Regardless of how 'put-together' she might appear to be, Kairetu has been through fire, but instead of being burnt, she was refined.

She left her eight-year-old marriage right before the Covid pandemic with nothing but her clothes. With nowhere to go, she was fortunate to get friends who hosted her.

At the time, Kairetu worked at a call centre and her meagre salary could not fully support her and her kids.

For that reason, she agreed with her ex-husband that he would stay with the children since he was financially stable.

Three months after leaving, she also lost her job at the call centre and her savings to a pyramid scheme.

“I remember contemplating suicide after losing my savings. It felt like things were getting darker. Like there was no hope,” she said.

Fortunately, Kairetu went for a digital marketing job interview, which she nailed. She was able to afford a house of her own after being sheltered by friends for six months.

Though her house was basically empty, Kairetu would get visits from her nine- and five-year-old daughters, who would encourage her.

“My kids would tell me it didn't matter where I lived, provided we spent time together. I shed tears,” she said.

Like any mother, Kairetu found it difficult being away from her kids. Thankfully, her ex-husband was supportive and would let her see the kids often.

“I can say he allowed me space to grow and figure my life out as I tried to find stability,” she said.

Here is the podcast link 

JOINING TAXI INDUSTRY 

Since her marketing job was mostly online, Kairetu had lots of free time, and she decided to join the cab business.

Kairetu loved driving as soon she learnt how to at 20. 

Her family, aware of her love for the wheel, would often task her with driving them around. 

"When the opportunity came to turn my love for driving into a business, I took it," she said.

Kairetu sought a car and enlisted with the different online cab services in the country.

After a few of months multitasking two jobs, she decided to focus on the cab business.

Kairetu would be up by 4am daily to drop clients at their places of work and worked into the night as she tried to finish 12 hours in the apps. 

“Once you use the online apps to get clients for a certain number of hours, they lock it so you cannot use it,” she said. 

Though she loved her job, it had its own challenges. She said there are people who underestimated her strength as a driver.

“If you encounter a puncture, or the luggage is heavy, some people feel women lack the strength to deal with such issues,” Kairetu said.

“But there are always ways to counter those situations. I believe we all stand an equal chance to do similar jobs.”

At times, clients would cancel ride orders once they saw her image. 

"Surprisingly, most of those cancellations used to come from women," she said.

What greatly irked her was being harassed in her line of work.

“I once picked someone who sat at the co-driver's seat and he kept looking at me. I was wearing trousers,” she said.

“Suddenly, he requested to touch my thighs. I felt disrespected. I stopped the car and told him to get out.”

Kairetu reported the incident with the app, though she says some apps follow up while others ignore, depending on the terms and conditions.

There were months she questioned herself over her income as it would be inadequate to sustain her.

Though there were times when clients were just fewer, she said the fact that the taxi companies deducted a commission from drivers was discouraging.

The situation would worsen when fuel prices increased. Kairetu said the taxi firms would not review their prices despite the costly fuel.

Her income would further be affected by the discounts the apps offer customers. 

“It felt like the apps care more about the clients than the drivers," she said. 

Kairetu said drivers also suffer because most own their cars and cater for its maintenance. 

Though some look down on women drivers, there are advantages of being one. 

Kairetu said she gets tips from clients, which boosts her income. 

“I also get a lot of understanding clients. Like when it comes to picking up luggage, you can get someone who helps you,” she said.

STARTING HABIBI 

Towards the end of 2022, Kairetu felt her life was stuck. She was not making enough money or meeting her financial targets. 

She quit the online cab apps and moved to start Habibi Taxis.

Being a Theatre and Arts degree holder, Kairetu had interest in content production. She had an active Tik Tok page, where she told stories of the drama that goes on in the taxi industry.

When she posted her first video, it went viral and people started asking for more. 

But even as her audience was exhilarated by her content, Kairetu was going through a lot.

She was trying to start Habibi Taxis, but it was not kicking off smoothly. Her major challenge was locating clients without an app. 

“I was very scared at first. I had built quite a clientele from the stories I used to give on Tik Tok, but I did not have a flow of customers coming through," Kairetu said.

She took to her online page to share her frustrations. 

"Based on that video, I got many requests from clients to take them somewhere. That is how the first month was,” she said.

Kairetu went ahead to register her business and through her Tik Tok stories, one fan reached out to her, seeking to support her business grow further. 

The fan acted as a guide who helped her sell the small car she had and exchange it for a bigger, better one. 

Surprisingly, her Tik Tok fans slowly started becoming her clients. 

“Tik Tok has served as a major platform to source clients because 90 per cent of them come from the app. My Tik Tok handle is my business. I don’t just go online to entertain people. I tell them what I do and the services I offer,” Kairetu said.

Without an app for Habibi, her clients reach out to her through her business number, email or social media to schedule rides. 

Interestingly, Kairetu also gets clients from abroad through Tik Tok.

“Like the client I'll be dropping at the airport after this, he is Ugandan. Whenever he is in Kenya, I drive him around. I even get clients from abroad, who pay me to follow up on their projects here in Kenya,” Kairetu said.

Kairetu's work schedule changed once she left the online apps. She no longer must wake up at 4am like she did with the apps.

“My routine is more flexible now and I have more time to myself. I can wake up any time, I can sleep anytime. Sometimes I might have to be up by 12am or 10am. My schedule depends on the bookings I have,” she said.

Her income also increased dramatically with Habibi Taxis. 

“I can say 10 trips with online cabs would earn me the same as two trips with Habibi Taxis,” she said.

Additionally, Kairetu gets compliments from lady clients, who tell her they are proud to see a fellow woman driving with a lot of courage and zeal. 

She urged fellow women drivers to have thick skin and to be proud of what they do. 

“I meet people who ask me how it is that I am proud of driving. I love what I do. For me, transport is not just about ferrying a person from one place to another, it's about solving issues while carrying this person,” she said.

“You find someone with a daughter who went through a bad experience coming from school looking for someone they can trust. That is where I come in.

“Someone is abroad with a sick parent here in Kenya. They requested me to take their parents to the hospital and act as their guardian."

Kairetu believes driving is about leaving an impact on the people she carries.

"It is transport with a purpose," she said. 

Kairetu hopes that people’s perception in undermining others based on gender can change. And that drivers’ well-being can be taken into consideration more.

“Were it not for the driver, the client cannot get to their destination safely. The driver needs to feel cared for,” she said.

For her future, Kairetu hopes to get an app and a website for Habibi Taxis, which will help her spread her services to other counties as it is only limited to Nairobi.  

Though her business is only seven months old, Kairetu believes she has come from far and still has a long way to go.

WHAT OTHERS SAY 

When we asked male drivers what they thought of their female counterparts, they said women are equally good. 

Tevin Aggrey, a cab driver, said he has interacted with them and noted that they are equally capable. 

"It's just driving the car and knowing the routes. Women can do it and are doing it just as well as men," Aggrey said. 

Female clients believe women drivers are more cautious on the road. 

Stephanie Awour said it is why she trusts female drivers with her child.  

"I am more comfortable when my child is carried from school by a female driver. Not that anything bad has ever happened, it's just preference," Awour said. 

Susan Wambui also believes female drivers are more careful on the road. 

"It feels safer with a female driver because they are careful,' Wambui said. 

Men have also encountered female drivers. 

Salim Hassan said he finds them rather insecure. Once, a lady driver took a different route to his destination, which prompted him to ask whether she was sure of the direction. 

"She felt I was undermining her by questioning her about direction. She didn't want to be dictated to," Hassan said.

Agnes Mwongera, the head of Women in Transport and a driver representative at Transport Workers Union, said women have increasingly been joining the taxi industry.    

Mwongera , who started driving in 2016, said there were less than 10 women drivers back then.  

She said incidents of women harassment in taxis have been reported before, adding that there are clients who sneer at women for joining the male-dominated industry.    

“Women who get into the taxi business are not desperate. I urge clients to respect them and respect their cars because that is their office,” Mwongera said.  

She said there were times in the past when cab drivers' meetings would be held without women.

Thus, women were left out in decision-making on matters that affect them, too. 

She said men also got more slots in the industry when positions were dished out. 

"Currently ladies are fighting for their positions, and I like that, " Mwongera said. 

She said female taxi drivers don't get leave days even when pregnant.  

Moreover, unlike men, women might have to return home earlier from work to take care of their families. 

 “Our side as women is more challenging compared to men,” she said.  

Despite this, Mwongera urged women to join the industry as it is more accommodating now.

Evidently, the increasing number of lady cab drivers is proof that driving skills and proficiency are not determined by gender but by individual abilities, experience and dedication.

This story was produced by The Star Publications in partnership with WAN IFRA Women In News