In the city-province of Kinshasa, taxi and taxi-bus drivers went on strike on Monday, June 5, 2023, despite the 10-day moratorium without control granted by the provincial transport authority. This recurring situation which makes citizens suffer pushes the lawyer Placide Luboya Mwanza to recall the need for the State to intervene in order to regulate and purge the transport sector of all police and administrative harassment. This approach should in particular call on all the security services such as the police (PNC) or the intelligence (ANR) in order to put out of harm’s way the elements which operate without a valid mission order.
One of the keys to solving this public transport problem in Kinshasa, according to Placide Luboya Mwanza, is also the increase in the fleet of vehicles that would cover the needs of the Kinshasa and Congolese population as a whole. The “payment” phenomenon, also at the origin of these hassles, must be eradicated. This is a practice that obliges police officers and other agents deployed on major arteries to pay a certain amount or send it to the area commander or mission manager at the end of each day.
Thus, each party involved: the State, the police, the transport services and the drivers will have to meet to discuss the sources of these harassments. The objective is to clean up the transport sector to better serve citizens and future voters.
In this situation, well informing the public through blogs and media is essential to raise awareness and educate citizens on transport and road safety issues for better operation of public transport services.