There was an incident between a boda boda rider and a motorist in Kampala last week, which was recorded on someone’s phone and went viral. It started when a boda boda guy tried to squeeze through the traffic and scratched a car. The car driver jumped out of the car and confronted the rider, demanding that he pay for the damage.
The ensuing argument drew the usual crowd of motorcycle riders who joined in heckling the driver. The driver and the boda guy could not agree, and tempers flared, then another boda rider got overexcited by the exchange and started taunting the driver. The driver got into his car and tried to drive off, but in the process injured one of the riders. At this point the boda boda guys became a lynch-mob and set on the driver beating him up, and trashing his vehicle.
The incident happened in broad daylight as passers-by watched. Of course no one was brave enough to intervene because they would likely have been beaten up themselves. So the boda riders killed the driver and then simply rode away. We have obviously got to the stage in Kampala where boda riders are out of control. I am not saying that all boda boda guys are hooligans and thugs, but this type of behaviour certainly gives the whole industry a very bad image. While there are riders who have become part of organizations such as ‘Safe Boda’ in which they are trained to obey the traffic laws and ride in a safe manner, there is a significant element of the boda boda fraternity who are reckless and lawless.
During Covid, boda riders have become even more reckless because they want to avoid being caught after curfew, so in terms of squeezing past cars and causing scratches, this has become the rule rather than the exception. My car gets scratched by a boda rider at least once a year, and of course when they damage your vehicle they just ride off as if nothing has happened. But when a rider does something stupid, like making a U-turn without looking behind, and you crash into him, it will automatically become your fault.
A few months ago I was waiting at a police check at Kabalagala as a boda maneuvered out of a junction in front of me. However, just as he cleared my vehicle, he fell over. It all happened in slow motion and neither he, his bike, nor my car were damaged. However, the police saw the bike lying on the road and presumed I had caused the accident and soon there was a crowd. In this case the boda rider said very little because he knew I had not hit him and eventually everyone calmed down. But the presumption was that I had caused the accident: the car driver is always wrong! I use bodas on occasions since they are so convenient, but I also think they are dangerous, and are not my preferred means of transport. Despite this, the vast majority of passengers who use boda boda transport have lived to tell the tale, because the majority of riders ride carefully and want to stay out of trouble, but when a number of boda riders gather round an incident they quickly become an unruly mob.
It is time, for the sake of everyone’s sanity, for law and order to be restored. Jennifer Musisi made an attempt to regulate bodas in Kampala, but was overtaken by the political season. KCCA has recently made noises about excluding bodas from certain areas in the city, but we have not yet seen it happen. Neither Nairobi nor Dar allow bodas within the city limits in order to preserve order, but in Uganda we have them swarming around our vehicles like bees. The fact that a mob of boda boda riders can beat a motorist to death on the streets of Kampala demonstrates that we have let them get out of control, and serious action needs to be taken immediately, if we do not wish to have anarchy on our streets. Boda bodas can provide a good service and I applaud those organizations that have sought to bring order to the industry, using smart phone aps, clear identification on jackets, and providing training. But it is not enough. The boda boda industry as a whole must be regulated and controlled. When government decided they should install security cameras, and regulate sim cards, they did it efficiently. Boda bodas can also be regulated if there is the political will.
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