• The only child from a broken marriage, the 29-year-old found himself in the streets without a home after running away from poverty in Busia.
• He grew up not knowing who his parents were and met my mother in 2012 after 14 years.
Kevin Mubadi’s view of the city from his Dunga Road office is scenic. It is a big contrast from the dark alleys of River Road where his business life began.
Mubadi’s dream was to be a pilot. He left his grandmother in Busia county after high school hoping to actualise that dream in Nairobi.
The only child from a broken marriage, the 29-year-old yearned for a different life. This never came to be, for he found himself in the streets without a home.
“I grew up not knowing who my parents were. I met my mother in 2012 after 14 years. There were family disputes here and there,” Mubadi recalled.
Life was tough. “After completing my secondary education, I told my grandmother that I was going to the city to look for a better life. She had nothing to offer me but good luck.”
He thought he had escaped poverty only to realise he had landed in a worse situation - in the hands of wicked people who determine your fate in dark streets. He had neither food nor shelter.
“I ran away from the grass-thatched house I detested only to scrumble for space in cold verandas occupied by mean 'tenants'. I had to pay for everything including wet open spaces to spend the night,” Mubadi recounted.
He was forced out of that "space" by street families and moved to an even more dangerous space on River Road where he curled up in a corner at night, all alone.
Occasionally, a stranger would join him. There would hardly be any conversation. All the boy from Busia cared about was staying alive.
In the village, Mubadi had heard people saying that those with driving skills had better survival chances in the city.
He used to wake up very early to go beg for food and water in the streets. That had become a job in itself.
After a few months, he landed a messengerial job in an office on Baricho Road. He worked diligently, saving every coin possible.
A year later, Mubadi bought his first motorcycle and started a delivery service business and quit his job.
Hardly a few weeks later, the motorbike was stolen as he shopped in a supermarket near Harambee Avenue.
“I could not trace my motorcycle. I was so confused and helpless. But that gave birth to my current position. In desperation, I shared my story with other people who had also fallen victim of thieves,” he said.
He decided to start a countrywide association that would bring together riders and champion their welfare.
In 2014, Mubadi wrote to the Inspector General of Police and the Ministry of Transport seeking a letter of no objection to the formation of such an organisation.
He was confronted with huge road blocks for almost a year. He would have given up were it not for his in-born aggressiveness and the encouragement from friends.
“At Sheria House, an employee told him there was no way I could handle all counties. She refused to okay the association, insisting that I could only manage one county.”
When he was informed that she had been transferred, he returned to Sheria House and the Bodaboda Association of Kenya (BAK) was registered. So far, it has 5,000 members.
Being a member of the association has several benefits. In case of an accident, for example, BAK pays the hospital bill. And in the case of death, it arranges for the funeral at a cost of Sh100,000.
Further, it supports the family in the establishment of a business.
The bodaboda sector has been recognised as a huge economic booster countrywide.
There are 1.4 million riders in the country, 40,000 of them in Nairobi’s Central Business District.
The association hopes to one day own an office tower in the city.
Mubadi says his immediate plan is to see the association grow and have regional offices.
He says the greatest challenge the riders have is harassment from the police and county askaris.
“The government agreed to give us time to be trained on discipline. That is why the crackdowns on riders have ceased,” he said.
In August, the government launched Bodaboda Information Management System to boost self-regulation in partnership with the Ministry of Interior. The system also collects all riders' data.
“We realised that there are poeple who specifically buy a motorbike for criminal activities. Some bikes are stolen and taken to new locations where they are used for criminal activity.”
Last year, the National Research Centre reported that bodaboda involvement in murder cases were 37.5 per cent of all homicides, robbery with violence 52.9 per cent, assault 67 per cent and death by dangerous riding 79.5 per cent.
But Mubadi says his members are not involved in crime.
- mwaniki fm