Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) has announced that enforcement of the boda boda Free Zone in Kampala will commence on August 31, 2020.
This was revealed by Daniel NuweAbine, who is the acting spokesperson of the KCCA.
The cabinet on Saturday approved the Boda Boda Free Zone policy where access to the city centre in Kampala will be denied to all boda cyclists.
On Monday, July 27 as boda bodas returned to carrying passengers after over four months since they were restricted to only cargo, police had started to enforce the restrictions on access to the city but after a few hours withdrew from the roads and allowed cyclists to access the city.
According to NuweAbine: “boda boda riders should understand that there is a Boda Boda Free Zone, although enforcement will start much later.
“The enforcement will start on 31st August and thereafter we shall deny them entry. For now, they should be getting used to it,” NuweAbine said.
The KCCA acting spokesperson said, that the city authority will be using this period to demarcate roads and attach signposts to the gazetted stages.
NuweAbine said that the Boda Boda Free Zone is meant to reduce on the traffic congestion in the city centre which has been a challenge for years.
He added that, “we should also be aware that when you go to the casualty ward of Mulago or all the health centers of KCCA in Kampala, 90% of the victims there are from boda boda industry,”
“We also have an issue of the air quality. We have had a lot of carbon emissions yet we have covenants that we are signatories to. We pledged to the World Health Organization that we shall cut emissions and this is one of the ways to achieve that.”
The ban on boda boda’s in the city centre has been received with mixed reactions as the cyclists and political wing of the KCCA said that they were not consulted enough.
NuweAbine, however, said that the claims are not true as KCCA tried to consult all stakeholders before coming up with the plan.