Bodaboda operators retreat to Uhuru Park to escape crackdown in CBD

In Summary

• Police say over 200 operators have been arrested since the crackdown started.

• Those presented in court are facing sexual assault charges.

by EMMANUEL WANJALA Radio, Print & Digital Reporter

09 March 2022 - 12:22

Bodaboda operators regroup at Uhuru Park to escape ongoing operation in the Central Business District, March 9, 2022.
Image: EZEKIEL AMINGÁ

Bodaboda operators have retreated to Uhuru Park outside the Central Business District to escape an ongoing crackdown in the CBD.

The government has intensified crackdown on the riders following a public outcry over rising cases of criminal activities perpetrated by the operators.

Part of the 16 bodaboda riders who were presented before Milimani law Courts on Wednesday charged with sexually a assaulting a lady driver on Wangari Maathai Road, March 9, 2022.
Image: DOUGLAS OKIDDY

The most recent incident that sparked public outrage was where a lady driver was assaulted by the riders after she was involved in an accident with one of them on Wangari Maathai Road on March, 4.

The Directorate of Criminal Inspectorate has since identified the key suspect in the heinous crime as Zacharia Nyaora, a resident of Mukuru Kaiyaba informal settlement.

The suspect is still at large.

Meanwhile, 16 of his accomplices were on Wednesday presented before Milimani Law Courts and charged with assaulting the lady driver.

Police are seeking to detain them for 20 days to complete their investigations.

An online petition calling for the introduction of stiffer laws to curb lawlessness in the bodaboda sector has so far been signed by over 150,000 people.