Complete shift of mindset needed for boda boda sector
By PD columnist, March 14, 2022The crackdown on the boda boda sector was long overdue. It has grown to become a major contributor to the economy in Kenya but remains completely unregulated.
As such, it has gone completely rogue. The incident that forced the government’s hand where boda boda riders in Nairobi recently swamped and assaulted a female motorist who had hit and badly injured a rider, was merely the straw that broke the camel’s back.
Boda boda operators have become a law unto themselves, operating with complete impunity. Sometimes they beat up and harass motorists in the full glare of police officers who merely stand idly by. Even when they are in the wrong, as they are most of the times, they will still swamp motorists and beat them up. Something had to be done.
For once, the government acted decisively. This has never happened before. However, the crackdown should have a well thought out plan, with a template to be universally adopted and applied.
The template should have a well-structured implementation plan devoid of all the drama and hysterics that has accompanied the current crackdown. Knee jerk reactions don’t end well. See what happened.
The objective needs to be clear–—it is to formalise and structure what has become a critical lifeline for an estimated a million boda boda riders and their families, as this is where they get their livelihood.
Anything else that looks like victimisation and discriminatory will be taken advantage of by politicians as has happened in this case. It is also unlikely to achieve the desired objectives as the boda boda riders will resist it. Drastic reforms require buy in, and the government must do the spadework required to achieve it.
Further, the boda boda sector is now a billion-shilling economic sector supporting auxiliary services that provide livelihoods to millions of other Kenyans. For one, it has spawned a major financing sector which gives out motorcycles to clients on hire purchase, a local assembling capacity, and a huge network of stockists of motorcycles and their spares.
Now that the government has halted the crackdown, the opportunity should be used to put in place and implement in a sober and systematic manner a regulatory framework to streamline the sector. This opportunity must not be lost.
Despite the disruption occasioned by the current crackdown, it has wide approval from a public that has borne the brunt of a sector gone rogue. Members of the public have suffered deaths and injuries through daily accidents from sheer recklessness of boda boda riders.
It can be done. A boda boda sacco in Thika provides an excellent template for the Government to adopt. That sacco has requirements like training before a new member is allowed to join, and a very elaborate barcode system for monitoring of their members.
Very impressive self-regulation indeed. It is working very well, and Government should pick it up, make it adoptable universally, and give it the power of enforcement.
The boda boda sector is a powerful platform for the empowerment of millions of Kenyans. Some boda boda groups have formed themselves into strong economic entities that are undertaking economic projects worth hundreds of millions using their power of membership mobilisation.
The government should see the sector in this light, and facilitate it as a key cog in the transport industry. Its economic impact now needs to be captured along with other economic statistics in the country. A policy paper on the boda boda sector is now long overdue.
Clearly, this sector has long moved beyond its jua kali rag tag origins.
Both the boda boda riders and the Government need to recognize this to move the sector forward. The two parties need to undergo a major shift in mindset, to graduate the sector to the next level.
— gathukara@gmail.com