Close To 50 000 Boda bodas Registered In Census Exercise To Get Stages

The Kampala Capital City Authority- KCCA says the body is in the process of certifying all registered bodaboda riders to work within the city.

 KCCA shall designate Boda Boda stages, determine the number of riders per stage, give them uniforms each with a QR code that can be scanned to view details of the rider, and that a tracking device too shall be installed in the motorcycles.

According to the KCCA Spokesperson Simon Kasyate, they have started planning for close to 50,000 Boda bodas registered during the two-week Boda census exercise.

He explains that the authority is sorting the data of those registered which includes gazeting stages, operational numbers, identity cards and coded reflector jackets and training them on road safety before the enforcement on the unregistered.

“We are now in the process of synthesizing the data received, appropriating them, creating for those registered identity cards and operational numbers, gazzetting stages and routes, this is an internal process and after sieving out the unregistered will be sent away,” he says

Up to 400, 000 Boda boda riders are estimated to operate in Kampala Metropolitan Areas.

The mandatory Boda boda registration ended on Friday last week after one month of registration at key points in all the five divisions of kampala.

Following the closure, the Minister for Kampala, Hajati Minsa Kabanda stated that starting Monday, September 19th, 2022 all affected boda bodas would be sent off streets..

However, by Monday morning, there was no action from the KCCA as highly anticipated by many.

Kasyate, however says the minister’s communication should not be taken lightly.

Some riders are still questioning the census objectives especially after they had registered and trained in a program conducted by the Ministry of Works and Transport, KCCA, Police, and Uganda Driving Licensing Agency-UDSA.

In February, the State Minister for Kampala Kabuye Kyofatogabye issued guidelines to streamline operations of Boda Bodas in Kampala and the metropolitan areas.

The guidelines included registration of riders, training in proper road use, medical examination of riders, and acquisition of driving permits by all riders.

Umar Isabirye, the Chairman of Boda Boda Industry Association in Makindye Division says government programs are unclear, wondering why instead of KCCA picking registration details of riders from the Ministry of Works and UDSA, they have to conduct an independent exercise.

He also questioned why riders from outside Kampala and without stages in Kampala shall be registered as riders in the city.

“The census I know is when the government comes to the people and counts them from where they are. KCCA has to come to stages and pick information from there, not staging at particular centres and calling everyone to come. So who are they registering? How do they know that the person is from Kampala? They should get organized and stop consuming riders’ time in endless processes” said Isabirye.