Let boda boda associations regulate sector for safety

Listening with journalist Amina Abdi-Rabar to students and teachers in the fertile county of Kisii this week, we were troubled by many stories of teenage boys leaving the classroom to operate boda bodas for a living. Coupled with tales of boda boda riders defiling secondary school girls, it is easy to conclude that the industry is a menace to society. This would be simplistic and false. As the Public Service Motorcycle Transport Taskforce starts its public consultations this week, a new dawn may be on the horizon.

The spike in public motorcycle industry can be traced back to 2007. Within a decade, motorcycles were responsible for one in two of all motor vehicle registrations. Today, 800,000 boda boda riders contribute to the livelihoods of more than four million people. It is a billion-shilling economy attracting new digital-based service providers. The growth of this industry owes much to our congested roads, traffic jams and public transport crisis. Morocco and Ethiopia have invested in light rail trains.