Influence of social meanings of bribery on tactics used by matatu operators in Kisii County

Abstract

Bribery has become a notorious problem to both businesses and the various governments of the world including Kenya. The Kenyan government since independence has tried to fight bribery but the war is far from over. It is also believed that due to bribery and corruption, cost of doing business in Kenya has increased, there is underdevelopment and more so the wastage of human resource through road traffic accident. It is for this reason that the researcher undertook the study in order to understand the influence of social meanings of bribery on tactics used by Matatu operators in Kisii County. The study specifically tried to investigate the social meaning of bribery among matatu operators in Kisii County, establish how the social meanings influence the tactics used by matatu operators to bribe. Social construction and discourse analysis theories guided the study. The case study design was adopted. The target population was determined by the saturation method. The sample was selected using purposive sampling technique. A sample as appropriate for saturation of themes during analysis was considered. In-depth interviews and observation was used to collect data. Data analysis involved developing a coding system based on themes covered. The coded information was analyzed thematically categorized in relation to the research questions of the study. All coded information under the major themes identified was put together for summarization of the study. The understanding among the drivers and conductors gave an indication that bribery exist among Matatu operators in Kisii County. Drivers and conductors pay bribe because of carrying excess passengers, non-compliance with traffic rules and poor condition of the car. Most of the drivers and conductors consider bribery as “chai”, with others as “Riaki”, pesa and “Egento and finally as “ hongo”. This indicated that the meaning of bribery varies from one Matatu operator to another. Most of the conductors and drivers always give bribe in form of cash, a few through Mpesa.This showed that most of the drivers and conductors give out bribes in form of cash.Most of the bribing occurred in the form of cash. This is because the drivers and conductors are used to handling of cash at any given time thus easy to part away than when it was in other forms. The self-esteem of bribery has been deep rooted in the Matatu industry and has been taken to be normal.In order to eradicate corruption all the stakeholders involved in the Matatu industry should strictly adherence to traffic rules and regulations. There is need to implementation of traffic rules and regulations according to the traffic policy.Finally there is need to train the matatu stakeholders on the need of adherence to traffic rules and regulations.