- Order follows last Friday’s incident where a group of riders attacked and molested a female driver in Nairobi
- Operators will be registered afresh as part of efforts to streamline the industry.
Image: FILE
President Uhuru Kenyatta on Tuesday ordered a crackdown on rogue boda boda operators across the country.
He at the same time warned against politicising the issue by claiming that government is targeting small businesses.
This follows last Friday’s incident where a group of rogue riders attacked and molested a female driver in Nairobi after an accident.
“It is a disheartening thing to see and it’s only one among many others that have occurred across this country and we must be honest to each other,” the President said.
He said he had given instructions and ordered a crackdown on boda boda operators in the country to address the menace.
Uhuru said he knows some people will try to politicise the issue and claim the government is hurting small business people in the country.
He added that the government has helped the industry grow more than any other through various measures, including reduced purchase prices.
“We applaud the young men and women who ride these boda boda for a living,” he said, adding that the operators will be registered afresh as part of efforts to streamline the industry.
"A boda boda is not a licence to strip a woman. There should never be a repeat of what happened on Friday. This is a blight on the whole Kenyan society.”
He spoke at the Kenya School of Government in Nairobi at an event to mark International Women’s Day on Tuesday.
Police launched an operation and arrested more than 200 riders and detained 987 motorcycles in Nairobi alone.
Some 100 of them were fined Sh35,000 each for blocking other road users and driving on pavements.
Following the incident, the President is said to have on Monday night ordered the fresh registration of all boda boda operators in the country. He gave the instructions to Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i and his Transport counterpart James Macharia.
Inspector General of Police Hilary Mutyambai chaired a meeting of top police commanders to plan the crackdown in the country.
A signal was dispatched to instruct the crackdown as officials from National Transport and Safety Authority moved in to start the registration process.
In Nairobi, it was cat and mouse game between some of the operators and security agencies who sought to detain them.
The central business district was empty of the usual drama of the riders Tuesday.
-Edited by SKanyara