G-SPOT: Confessions of a chronic boda boda overpayer

My left-leaning, social welfare-prioritising tendencies have landed me in trouble yet again. It would seem that trying to do my bit, when the budget allows, to make life a little easier for people less privileged than myself, is not universally admired.

Some of my friends think I am far too sympathetic towards people they believe simply are not working hard enough for their money. Apparently, I ignore practical realities. By ‘practical realities’, they mean they are not stingy, ahem... merely ‘selective with their spending’.

The latest dispute began when one friend complained that a boda boda rider waiting outside the gate of our compound had tried to charge her Sh100 for a journey that had always cost Sh50.

She launched into a tirade about this attempted daylight robbery, pointing out that she had lived in Malindi for more than 20 years and had paid Sh50 ever since boda bodas became part of everyday life in the early 2000s.

Eventually, I could bear the injustice no longer. I put up my hand and confessed:

"I am responsible for skewing the market." I explained that I had been paying Sh100 for that trip for more than a year because it seemed a fairer price than Sh50.

The room fell silent. I had effectively admitted to economic sabotage.

To be fair, this is not a habit confined to Malindi. I do much the same with ride-hailing taxis in Nairobi. If someone charges me Sh200 for a journey that would easily have cost Sh1,000 before ride-hailing apps turned the industry upside down, I usually add a little extra, provided my wallet is in a cooperative mood.

Come to think of it, I may have just identified the principal reason I shall never be rich. Sadly, it is probably too late to change course now.

My reasoning is fairly simple. Across Kenya, a typical boda boda journey costs anywhere between Sh50 and Sh200, depending on where you are and how far you are travelling. In towns such as Nairobi, Mombasa and Malindi, a 1-to-3km trip generally falls within the Sh50 to Sh100 range, while longer cross-town journeys can reach Sh200 or Sh300.

The fares may appear modest to the passenger. They look rather different from the rider's side of the handlebars.

Filling the tank of a typical boda boda from empty costs between Sh2,140 and Sh2,570, depending on the motorcycle's fuel tank capacity and the prevailing regulated petrol price. Popular models, such as the Bajaj Boxer 150 X and the Honda Ace have tanks of around 11 to 12 litres, with Super Petrol currently retailing at about Sh214 per litre.

Fortunately, most riders are not expected to produce more than Sh2,000 every morning before breakfast. According to the riders I spoke to, they usually buy fuel in amounts of Sh100 to Sh500 as they work through the day.

According to Paybillke, an independent directory and tools service that knows considerably more about these things than I ever will, a standard motorcycle covers between 35km and 50km on a litre of petrol, depending on engine size, terrain and passenger load.

My regular riders told me that a typical 150cc boda boda operating in Malindi and covering around 80km a day spends roughly Sh400 on fuel and brings in gross passenger fares of about Sh1,200 on a good day during the tourist season.

The words ‘good day’ and ‘tourist season’ are doing a great deal of heavy lifting there.

When the tourists disappear, riders spend much of the day chasing the same pool of local customers, many of whom are themselves watching every shilling and deciding that perhaps walking is not such a bad idea after all.

There is another complication. Many riders do not actually own their motorcycles outright. They acquire them through asset finance arrangements, which means daily or weekly repayments quietly nibble away at whatever they earn.

Some finance companies charge between Sh300 and Sh400 a day. Once fuel and loan repayments are deducted, many riders are left with somewhere between Sh400 and Sh700 to take home.

Viewed from that angle, an extra Sh50 no longer seems quite so outrageous.

Or have I got this completely wrong?