A section of boda boda riders in Kampala have rejected the registration exercise citing costly training fees.
In April this year, the Ministry of Works and Transport, Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA), and the Uganda Police Force partnered with the Uganda Driving Licensing Agency to train riders as part of the ongoing campaign by the government to organise the boda boda industry.
Part of the organisation of the boda boda industry requires that they are trained and issued riding licenses.
In total, a rider needs between UGX65,000 and UGX75,000 for the training.
The process also requires one to get a recommendation letter from their division of origin to prove that they are boda boda riders operating from a particular stage.
The letters cost between UGX5000 and UGX10,000 from the Boda Boda Industry Uganda, an umbrella association of boda boda groups.
Boda boda riders acknowledge the need for training to attain knowledge of traffic rules and road signs.
Kiwotoka is among the slightly more the 10,000 riders that government reports to have trained. But for a programme that has lasted more than four months now, not even half the 400,000 boda boda riders estimated to be in Kampala have been registered and trained.
We asked Richard Kanyereka, a boda boda rider along Kampala Road why he has not registered for the training. According to Kanyereka, he didn’t trust the programme and its intentions. Kanyereka says the manner in which, the programme was announced and how it’s being conducted exposes what a scam the programme is. First of all, he says, the fees seem to have been reached by a small group of people who didn’t consult the majority of the riders before committing them to pay that amount of money.
He referred to the programme as a scheme for the said leaders to get some money and their accomplices too. Kanyereka says that efforts to organise the Boda Boda Industry should be put on riders getting driving permits and ensuring that every rider is registered with a stage. Asked if he is not worried that he might be stopped from operating from Kampala for failure to train, Kanyereka exhibited confidence that he couldn’t be kicked out, adding that there is no way he can give up UGX65,000 during these tough economic times.
Another rider, Mark Ssali from Kawempe, also says that much as he would like to register for the training, the money is too high for a boda boda rider in a time when the cost of fuel is high and other necessities of life. Ssali indeed confirms that there is an advantage in registering boda bodas but that it should be done at an affordable cost if the government is to increase the level of compliance.
Adson Amanya says that he is servicing a loan for his boda boda and cannot afford to spare more money to pay for the training whose benefit they are not aware of. Amanya says that the greatest benefit the riders would get from the process is acquiring permits but that is not part of the package.
But Siraj Mutyaba, the chairman of the Boda Boda Industry Uganda says that they negotiated with the trainers to reach fair fees being paid by the riders. He says that riders have a lot to miss if they don’t embrace this exercise, saying that they would rather negotiate their payment plans with companies that loaned them motorcycles to be able to pay for the training.
Regarding the fees for the recommendation letter, Mutyaba said that a rider pays a maximum of UGX5,000 or even less depending on how they explain their situation to the officers issuing the recommendation. He said anyone asked to pay more than UGX5,000 should report to the association’s main offices at the Ovino building in Kampala.
As the exercise goes on, the office of the lord mayor is discontent with how the bid to organise boda bodas in Kampala is being done. In a recent interview with Uganda Radio Network, the City Deputy Lord Mayor, Doreen Nyanjura, said that the political leadership is not opposed to organising the Boda Boda Industry but that it should be done in an organised manner following the law. KCCA is working on a Public Transport Bill to Streamline Public Transport including boda bodas in Kampala.
Nyanjura says that what is happening now is broad day “thuggery” where people are asked to pay for a service that isn’t sanctioned by KCCA and the money is not accounted for.
Last week, Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja, while officially launching the registration and training programme, said that no boda boda shall be allowed to operate in Kampala if they are not registered and trained. She also reiterated her earlier stand that only 7,000 boda bodas shall be allowed to operate in the Central Business District.
