How lawlessness prevails among boda bodas as attempts to streamline sector hit dead ends

The deceased formerly served as the chairman of the Political Parties Disputes Tribunal and until his demise was a law lecturer at the University of Nairobi. He met his death while in traffic by gunmen riding on a boda-boda (motorbike) as witnessed by the public and recorded by the police. This was the second, high profile assassination of a well-known public figure.

A while back, on April 30, again at around at 7.30 pm, the Member of Parliament for Kasipul, Charles Ong'ondo Were was shot dead at the City Mortuary roundabout in Nairobi. 

The late Ong’ondo Were was shot by a gunman who had been trailing his car from the time they left the Nairobi central business district. The case is under police investigations and suspects have been taken to court. 

The boda-boda saccos say these incidences are soiling their name and are sure unregistered boda bodas are the ones used in crime but in the eye of the public this becomes a matter of splitting hairs. 

By April 9, Nelson Mwangi, the chairman of the Mass Mobility Operators Association would not take it lying down any more. 

They released a scathing statement on the state of the boda-boda sector in Kenya saying, “We are calling on government to take action. Enough is enough. They must act. We have not seen the CS for Interior, Transport or NTSA condemning these crimes,” they said. 

They were reacting to the various instances in which boda-boda riders had taken matters into their own hands and meted violence and loss to motorists after accidents involving motorcycle riders.

The motorists Association of Kenya went further, “Accidents, however tragic, must never be met with violence and mob justice. Kenya is a country governed by laws. Resorting to violence is anarchy. We call upon authorities to act and bring justice to all, not just to the victims of accidents, but also to owners of vehicles burnt,” added the association Secretary Wilfred Bosire.

Boda boda vs vehicle operators

A few days ago, on September 7, an irate mob of boda boda riders set ablaze a private vehicle after an accident involving the Audi A3 hatchback and a boda boda rider and his pillion passenger. The accident occurred in Makongeni area of Thika town in Kiambu County. 

Matters turned tragic when the car owner shot the rider and the passenger after an altercation. A huge mob of boda boda riders who had gathered around by the took matters into their own hands and torched the personal vehicle. 

The Independent Police Oversight Authority (IPOA) said preliminary investigations are underway after the matter was reported to Makongeni Police Station.

On September 6, in the small countryside town of Luanda in Western Kenya, a 14-seat matatu fatally knocked down a boda-boda rider resulting in the group of boda boda riders around the town torching the involved matatu. Irony of the matter was that the matatu that was set ablaze belonged to another boda-boda riders sacco who were inconsolable on learning the fate of their investment.

Five days before the above incident, on 1 September, irate boda-boda riders set ablaze a matatu belonging to Super Metro Sacco near Juja town on Thika road, Nairobi, for allegedly knocking down a rider. 

Witnesses at the scene claimed the matatu hit and killed a boda-boda rider which ignited a heated exchange between riders who rushed to the scene immediately after the accident. The matatu, which was burnt to a shell, was rushing towards the city center when the accident took place. 

These incidences are just the tip of the iceberg as there are other cases reported involving boda bodas.

One of the most brazen attacks on the public by the motorized two-wheel brothers took place on March 8, 2022. Back then, a viral video went round many social media platforms showing certain boda-boda riders physically attacking and sexually molesting a female motorist on Wangari Maathai Road after she had had an accident involving a boda-boda rider. 

Subsequently over 200 boda boda riders were arrested in a crackdown following the incident. Over 229 riders arrested then and 913 motor cycles were seized by the police according to reports. The public reacted in anger and disbelief at the state of affairs that now had boda-boda riders openly molesting ladies in public. 

The authorities went further by arresting numerous riders even as the number of unregistered motorbikes confiscated reached over two thousand. The order was to restore sanity following the uproar over the assault on the female motorist. 

The police said the riders were required to produce documents include driving licenses, insurance cover, logbooks, and reflector jackets for each motorbike.

Attempts to tame boda bodas 

At around that time, the Jubilee Administration made futile attempts to bring the marauding boda-boda riders under regulation but all fell apart as political expediency had overrun order and regulation. The suggested measures were to regulate the riders through mandatory registration and training programs to improve safety and professionalism. 

Then the Deputy President, William Ruto, openly contradicted the government he was serving by siding with the boda boda riders and asking the police to release all the riders and their motorbikes. 

The boda bodas, alongside mama mbogas soon became the emblems of the “hustlers” or “bottom up” campaign team who eventually took power in 2022 general election. 

In April this year, the Public Transport (Motorcycle Regulation) Bill, 2023, sponsored by Kakamega Senator Dr. Boni Khalwale, proposed the introduction of a number of regulations including registration, operation, and management of the sector at the county level. 

The proposed Public Transport (Motorcycle Regulation) Bill was introduced to create county-level Motorcycle Transport and Safety Boards and mandate SACCO membership for all riders and owners. Surprisingly, the bill is facing opposition from the boda boda riders and their saccos but more than that, parliament is itself divided in passing the bill into law.

National Assembly Majority Leader Kimani Ichung’wah dismissed the Boni Khalwale Bill saying that he had asked the Senator to do away with the Public Transport (Motorcycle Regulation) Bill, insisting that it will not pass in the National Assembly until it is drawn up in collaboration with the primary stakeholders who will be directly affected. But just how difficult is it to integrate the views of the primary stakeholders into the bill?

All these publicly reported incidents might look random to a casual observer but to a keen eye, the untethered boda-boda sector is showing worrying signs of anarchy, driven by lack of regulation and accountability, however it was not always like this. 

How Kenya got here

Before 2008, motorbikes were in limited numbers in Kenya, indeed none ever tried using them as a means of public transport. 

However, government policy changes saw public interest in motorbikes shoot up a hundred-fold after the import duty on motorcycles was removed in 2008. This made them very affordable to a majority of the general public, leading to a massive surge in their use for informal transport provision, creating jobs and filling the gap left by limited or poor service and infrastructure in both urban and rural areas.

Certainly, boda bodas have become a critical and flexible means of transport for many rural and urban dwellers and are now the unacknowledged kings of the informal transport industry.

However, there are legitimate concerns that the sub-sector is becoming associated with crime, traffic accidents and impunity, with grave implications for public order, safety and security. 

This situation has largely been attributed to the boda boda sector operating with minimal regulation and control. Complaints of boda-boda operators blocking roads, involved in criminality such as flouting traffic rules with impunity and carrying out assassinations on motorcycles are now common occurrences across Kenya. Boda-bodas are the new face of road traffic accidents and crime. In addition, boda-boda accident related deaths and injuries have become major public health concerns in Kenya. 

The haphazard manner in which the sector works is a serious threat to public order and safety but more so to Kenya’s national security as it incentivizes risk taking, recklessness and impunity among operators. 

The boda-boda sector is dominated by a largely youthful group of riders without the requisite professionally motorcycle training, who operate under the radar of authorities. 

Consequently, the sub-sector is evolving into an unregulated informal industry with great risks to the overall public well-being.

A safety concern 

In looking at the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA), Road Traffic Accident (RTA) data of the year 2024 the, reveal that over 4,700 lost their lives on Kenyan rods owing to RTA. This was an 11.8 per cent rise in road accidents in the country and it amounted to at least 13 deaths daily on Kenyan roads.

Data records retrieved from the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) and the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) indicate that 1,166 motorcyclists were killed in road traffic accidents in Kenya in 2024. 

It must be noted that this was a slight decrease from the 2023 duration when the country recorded 1, 170 fatalities from motorbike accidents. An additional 2,618 motorcyclists suffered serious injuries, with 725 sustaining minor injuries. 

This reflects a growing trend of motorcycle accidents, with motorcyclists and their passengers remaining one of the most vulnerable road user groups.

These statistics corroborate what is increasing being observed that there is a rising motorcycle usage hence the increase in motorcycle accidents. In peri-urban areas and in rural Kenya, boda-bodas have become the preferred mode of transport owing to their versatility and relatively cheap costs. 

But this rise in popularity and availability has not been matched by adequate rider training or enforcement of traffic laws. The NTSA attributed a majority of motorcycle accidents to reckless behavior, including speeding, lack of lane discipline, reckless maneuvers on the road, and improper overtaking. In response to the alarming motorcycle accident rates, the NTSA launched the National Road Safety Action Plan (2024–2028) on April 2, 2024. 

The plan aims to undertake regulation and training for boda-bodas, increase traffic law enforcement and also undertake an improvement of road infrastructure and other safety measures.

Ensuring public safety is one of the leading functions of the public service and successful performance in this role requires a strategic approach that involves the concerted effort of all stakeholders. 

Transport plays a significant role in the development of the economy and, the boda boda sub-sector is becoming entrenched as a major part of the Kenyan economy and a source of employment and livelihood for many. To continue treating the symptoms of anarchy and impunity within the sector as minor isolated incidents flies in the face of prudence and the public goods of order, security and safety. 

The boda-boda sector needs regulation and accountability as early as today, if not yesterday, and any more time wasted in see-saw conversations between the proponents and opponents of its regulation means more violence or loss of life for more Kenyans. 

The youth should also wake up and see the boda-boda lie for what it is now, it is not a smart economic move to put an extra motorcycle on the road, the market is saturated and the customer pie is getting smaller and smaller hence the mad rush by boda-boda riders and the consequential accidents, violence and death. 

There is sense in what a writer recently noted, that flooding already saturated, low-income markets with boda-bodas is not empowerment. He described it as “economic sabotage; the arithmetic of poverty. He further said, “Kenyans must wake up. We cannot boda-boda our way to prosperity!”