Almost three-quarters of Congo’s 90 million people live in extreme poverty. These individuals mostly survive on less than $1.90 a day. When the pandemic hit, it made things even worse for these individuals threatening to push them to die of hunger.
The Pandemic hit Caused the loss of Jobs.
Congo produces most of the global copper and cobalt from its many mines. Most of the poor individuals depended on working in the mines to get money for meals. Furthermore, the mining industry in Congo accounted for about a third of Congo’s national output. But when the pandemic hit, it slowed down the demand for metals across the world. The African Development Bank in Congo warned that the pandemic could particularly hard hit its export-dependent economy. As months went by, several mines got closed down, and numerous people lost their jobs.
With numerous individuals losing their jobs, some families lost their only source of income and support. Due to this, several children in Congo have sought to join the labor force to help out their families. Schools in Congo remain closed to stop the spread of the COVID-19 disease. But many of those children sent home are not staying indoors. These children work each day to help put food on the table at home. With numerous children seeking jobs to support their families, working for a moto-taxi owner has been considered the most lucrative and appealing job.
Children Spend their days illegally driving motorbikes Taxis.
Congo has no reliable public transport system. Due to this, citizens rely on an informal network of moto-taxis knows as Wewa as the main way to move around. The moto-taxis manage to carry whole families and huge deliveries through traffic easily. But the workload is immense as there aren’t enough moto-taxis, and buying a bike costs a lot. Those who can afford to buy the bikes employ riders wherever they find them. Most of the time, these riders never have valid licenses, and most recently, they have been mostly underage. The legal minimum age to become a moto-taxi driver in Congo is 18. But when the pandemic hit, employers started taking in even 16-year-olds to work for them.
The children spend their days illegally driving the motorbikes taxis on busy Kinshasa roads to support their families during the pandemic. They try to navigate the traffic and dodge police officers in the capital whenever they see them. Working for six days a week, the children earn about 3,000 Congolese francs a day ($1.50) a day, but most of their earnings go to moto-taxi owners. Despite the low income, the children have found it very hard to stop working as their relatives rely on their incomes. Each night they bring their earnings home and help their families get something to eat.
No means to stop Children Drivers
The National Road Safety Commission, part of the transport ministry in Congo, says it can’t control underage drivers’ employment. The commission says it has minimal resources to stop the bad habit, and traffic police cannot regulate the situation. The National Road Safety Commission encourages everyone in Congo to get involved in putting a stop to children driving. They ask, in particular mayors and heads of neighborhoods, to discourage the children from driving.
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