There is a gut wrenching video of boda boda operators sexually assaulting a female motorist on Forest Road, in Nairobi after what seemingly appears to have been an accident involving the motorist and one of the boda boda operators. To provide some context, Boda bodas are motorcycles that are an essential part of the transport industry for the common mwananchi who cannot afford cars or who don’t want to waste their precious hours sitting in traffic. They are also very convenient and affordable means of deliveries across this vast, traffic-laden city. They have been a welcome relief for many especially on those days when you are running late for a meeting and can just hail one and be at your meeting in record time. This is in part because they are able to deftly maneuver in between standstill cars in traffic, ride on pavements and side-walks, drive on the wrong side (basically flaunt all the traffic rules) and drive really fast. On average one pays between Kshs.50 – 400 for a ride depending on the distance.
Most boda boda guys are friendly and reliable and most people in Nairobi especially those who run small businesses have riders at their beck and call to run errands and do deliveries for them. I have used the same rider going on three years now and I personally trust my rider with very sensitive things such as bank runs as he has been very disciplined and diligent.
But, this is not the case for the collective. Boda boda guys operate in what they refer to as squad/squadi, which is determined by the area where they park their motorcycles as they wait for clients. Squad usually has a chairman and other officials; there are channels that new riders have to follow in order to be allowed to join and operate in the area. . Bodas are generally badly driven and are the cause of many accidents and subsequent deaths. In Nyanza and Western provinces where motorcycles are the most popular mode of transport, the hospitals have dedicated whole wings for boda boda casualties. This is largely because most of the riders are un-licensed and un-skilled to operate a motorcycle solely let alone carry unsuspecting passengers.
Boda boda guys operate in what they refer to as squad/squadi, which is determined by the area where they park their motorcycles as they wait for clients.
Boda riders are no strangers to violence and many have been reported to have torched cars on accusation of one of their own having been hit by a motorist . On any given day, you will not want to have any run in with a boda guy on the road, because the whole squad is going to land on you and harass you mercilessly without knowing the context of the incident. Boda guys all over the country are a law unto themselves and have been known to facilitate criminal activities on many occasions. Boda’s have also been used in the past to facilitate rape, murders, terrorism, drugs and arms trafficking among other vices. Boda guys have become so brazen that one time last year one of them was caught on camera snatching a phone from a police officer in broad daylight with apparently no consequence.
The Forest road incident is just a symptom of a much bigger problem that has been festering with the boda boda sector being largely unregulated, and in part abetted by politicians. There are a lot of reforms that need to be instituted in order to restore sanity to the sector. Kenyans of good will have started a petition that you can sign here in order to add your voice to this pertinent issue, that would see riders be obligated to obey traffic rules and be enrolled in saccos that would effectively make riders accountable. This is just a start to what hopefully, will be a full overhaul to the sector that is a key source of livelihood for many Kenyans.