No boda bodas in CBD, passengers must sit astride, transport authority says

A boda boda passenger sitting in the recommended way. Both rider and passenger will be required to wear helmets and reflective.

NAIROBI, KENYA: It will soon be an offence to operate motorcycles popularly known as boda boda at the centre of any town within Kenya.

The National Transport and Safety Authority NTSA has proposed regulations that if passed will also restrict the operating time for boda bodas to between 5am and 11pm.

An earlier attempt by the Inspector General of Police David Kimaiyo to restrict operations in Nairobi to between 6am and 6pm have not borne fruit. Kimaiyo had taken the action as a way of containing rising cases of motorcycles being used in criminal activities at night.

The draft regulations were released to the public Wednesday to make their input before they are gazetted and implemented.

“No boda boda shall operate within the Centre of Business District (CBD) of any city or town centre of any town. The relevant County Transport and Safety Committee shall designate the areas of operation” the regulations read.

The regulations also ban boda boda passengers form sitting side ways saying all passengers will be required “to sit astride in the fixed seat behind the rider’s seat”.

If passed, the regulations will override an attempt by a Kisumu County Ward Representative to introduce a law requiring women boda boda passenger in the county to only sit sideways.

Kisumu North Ward representative Caroline Owen had proposed that women in Kisumu County should not to sit astride while riding boda boda claiming that the sitting position was uncultured and deprived women of respect because they ‘expose their bodies to men’.

The NTSA regulations also stipulate that each boda boda will only carry one passenger at a time, and that no motorcycle will be registered, sold or transferred to any other person without two helmets and two jackets that have reflectors.

The pair of helmets per boda boda will be inscribed with the motorcycle’s registration number in a manner that cannot be changed.

According to NTSA, the regulations will apply on motorcycle couriers as well as those that carry passengers.

Contravening the regulations will earn offenders a fine not exceeding Sh20,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or both.

The public have up to August 13, 2014 to make their input into the regulations.