Boda boda riders operating in Eldoret city
The National Transport and Safety Authority has rolled out the Boda Boda Management System in a bid to regulate the sector.
NTSA official Samwel Mwangi said the BMS is a flagship digital intervention under the National Road Safety Action Plan aimed at enhancing institutional coordination and enforcement of motorcycle operations.
“The system is also aimed at promoting safe, legal and accountable public service motorcycle operations through structured registration,” he said.
Mwangi said the system would also support data-driven decision-making for road safety management at the national and county levels.
He made the remarks during a sensitisation forum in Eldoret targeting boda boda operators.
“NTSA has developed the Boda Boda Management System, which is a centralised digital platform designed to register, regulate and monitor motorcycle taxi operations across the country,” Mwangi explained.
He said the boda boda sector was critical to economic development but was now recording a high number of accidents countrywide.
NTSA reported that 431 lives were lost in just three months.
Police data further cited up to 9,996 casualties over a span of 17 months.
Boda boda operators and their passengers account for more than 65 per cent of the average 4,000 road fatalities recorded annually in the country.
Mwangi said through the implementation of the National Road Safety Action Plan 2024–28, the NTSA continues to strengthen multi-agency coordination and leverage digital innovations to improve compliance, enforcement and safety in the public transport sector.
The boda boda sub-sector, being one of the fastest-growing modes of transport in Kenya, remains a priority area for structured regulation, safety management and data-driven oversight, he said.
Eldoret City is among the major urban centres in Kenya currently experiencing a major challenge of boda boda riders riding recklessly and failing to obey traffic lights installed on major streets. This has led to many accidents and is endangering the lives of pedestrians.
These revelations came during a stakeholders' engagement that brought together representatives of the Uasin Gishu government, NTSA and senior police officers.
Participants emphasised the need to streamline the boda boda sector to enhance order and overall safety.
The meeting was chaired by Moiben deputy county commissioner Duncan Okwach, who represented Uasin Gishu county commissioner Eddyson Nyale.
He emphasised the need for transport stakeholders in Uasin Gishu to support strategies to improve the boda boda sector by enhancing safety for riders and passengers and reducing serious incidents associated with the sector.
