• Mike Sakala (left) waits for customers with Patrick Banda at Kapata Township in Chipata.

By HARBGUY MWAMBAZI –

IT is fascinating that the common mode of transport within the town of Chipata is the use of a bicycle.
Locals in the town do not prefer taxis or minibuses. With a population of about 98,000, residents opt to hire bicycles to get to nearby destinations as a preferred mode of transport.
Mike Sakala, 34,  owns a bicycle that he uses to ferry people at a fee.
He has been in this business for five years.
His view about his occupation is that Chipata residents prefer to use bicycles because it is a relatively cheap means of transport.
“People always look at the cost involved in their choice of transportation and here in Chipata, we still use bicycles. A ride on a bicycle is cheap compared to a minibus or taxi,” he said.
Mr Sakala said his bicycle transport business has not only helped him finish building his house, but it has also contributed to his children’s education needs.
“The money I get from this business is not a lot, but it is enough for me to provide for my family and help my children go to school,” he said.
Mr Sakala, who lives with his wife Patricia, has three daughters and one son. But he said the business has advantages because there is no need to buy  fuel and it was flexible to move around with.
However, fixing of tyres and brakes was a constant expense.
“You need to make sure that the tyres are fixed and also the brakes are strong enough to last,” he said.
In order for customers to be attracted to hire a bicycle, the bicycle carrier must have a cushion to sit on. This ensures comfort for the customer who pays to be taken to a particular destination.
“Many customers in need of transportation run away from your bicycle if it is not comfortable. So the rider of the bicycle needs to make sure that it has a cushion which makes it comfortable for the  customer ,” he said.
People’s choice for the bicycle as their mode of transport has led to a growth of the business of ferrying people on bicycles over the past years, which has seen a large number of people joining the business .
“There was a time when the bicycle trade was slowly diminishing, and we didn’t have a lot of bicycles here in Chipata. However, the public’s preference for bicycles as a means of transport made this business to grow and this attracted many more people with bicycles to join the business,” Mr Sakala said.
The business of ferrying people on bicycles has grown largely because many foreigners from Malawi who engage in business activities in Chipata hire bicycles to transport groceries and other materials which they take to Malawi.
Bicycle owners prefer operating at the border because customers pay more to cover the relatively longer distances  than the shorter ones within Chipata town.
“When a rider works from the border, he can make about K20 going in just one direction and an extra K10 when taking a customer on the way back,” Mr Sakala said.
True to Mr Sakala’s words many residents who live far from the bus stops prefer hiring a cyclist to give them a ride right up to the doorstep of their destination.
Margaret Banda, 27, a Kapata resident who works in town, said bicycles are very conducive mainly because they ferried customers right up to their destinations.
“Unlike the minibuses, when you hire a bicycle, you are assured that it will drop you right where you are going. They usually drop me at my workplace on time, and always leave me at my door step when going home,” she said.
The many years that the public has used bicycles as a preferred mode of transport has made the cyclists to be efficient and organised.
Charges for hiring the bicycles usually differ from destination to destination, but they follow a charge chart depending on the distance that a customer intends to cover. Prices match the distance.
The cyclists tend to be fair in the pricing of their services in order to attract customers.
The bicycle hire business has made Chipata to have an unusually high number of bicycles, in comparison to other towns in the country and that has become an attraction to tourists from places such as France, Japan and China who often hire bicycles to have fun. The tourists and travellers visiting Chipata often get fascinated about the bicycle-for-hire business.