Govt Slashes 3-Year Driver’s License Fee For 1.4 Boda Boda Riders

NAIROBI, Kenya, Dec 6- Nearly one million Boda Boda operators in the country are to undergo a crash training program in road safety in a government drive to instill order in the sector.

The training that will be rolled out from February next year will also train the riders in first aid with recipients obtaining certification in an exercise involving Interior Ministry, the National Transport and Safety Authority, and the National Youth Service.

Interior Principal Secretary Dr. Karanja Kibicho further announced the slashing of the three-year driver’s license fee for the nearly 1.4 million operators from the current Sh3,500 to Sh1,050.

Provisional licenses will also be zero-rated during the RRI window that will end on May 31, 2022, to incentivize as many of the operators as possible to have valid papers.

The PS however warned that a sustained crackdown targeting criminals in the sector will follow immediately after the RRI period in the latest bid to streamline a vital but chaotic sector.

“We all have our stories with Boda Bodas. We are talking about a sector that has taken people through nasty experiences. This is a sector that is prone to a lot of abuse because we have criminals in it and that’s a fact,” the PS said.

The PS was speaking during an empowerment forum organized by the National Cohesion and Integrated Commission (NCIC) to engender sustained dialogue on political tolerance and peaceful coexistence among Boda Boda riders.

“Everyone nowadays wants to walk with gangs and no better place to find them than in the Boda Boda sector. We have fashioned ourselves around politics in such a way that you must have some goons and musclemen surrounding you during campaigns. We want Boda Boda riders to be principled. If all of you commit that we are not going to have violence, it shall be so,” the PS noted.

During the event, the Bodaboda Safety Association of Kenya (BAK) signed a binding commitment that would see its members resist all forms of inducement and incitement during political rallies and the 2022 elections.

Through its national chair, Kevin Mubadi, and representatives drawn from every county, the Association endorsed the Political Decency and Peace Charter, which is part of the NCIC’s efforts to implement the roadmap to violence-free campaigns and elections next year.

The NCIC chair, Rev. Dr. Samuel Kobia, said the Commission will tap into the grassroots reach of the transport sector and will deliberately target Boda Boda riders in peace-building initiatives under its “Elections Bila Noma” program.

Due to their huge number and grass-root presence, Boda Boda operators have become a target of quick mobilization by the masterminds and agents of political violence, a trend that has become all too familiar during campaigns and the electioneering period.

“It is sad that Boda Boda operators have often been considered a group of violent rogues in a sector that has long been out of control. Turn down senseless offers from politicians and their cohorts to be used as amplifiers of hate messages and executors of violence,” he said.

NCIC, through a public participation process, developed the Political Decency and Peace Charter to be signed by leaders and members of the public at the political, community, and institutional levels under the commitment to promoting and holding peaceful campaigns and elections.