Boda boda riders are not murderers

Mr Francis Nyarwaya, is the chairman Kampala Metropolitan Boda Boda Association (KAMBA). PHOTO BY GODFREY LUGAAJU.

What you need to know:

  • THE KNIGHT. Francis Nyarwaya, 43, is the chairman Kampala Metropolitan Boda Boda Association (KAMBA). Godfrey Lugaaju has a sit-down with him.

Who owns Kampala’s Boda Boda business?
No one. There are associations like Tugende which offer motorcycles on loans. People think there are big people in government behind this business but this is not true. There is an errant group of boda boda riders whose offences seem to have been ignored by the police. These may be the boda bodas the public think are owned by General Kayihura.

What is being done about this?
The IGP has cautioned them about their behaviour. We do not believe in fighting but talking to reach a consensus. There are plans to go to Rwanda to learn from their boda boda business and get guidance on how to form a joint association.

So whose fault is the bad reputation you have?
It is when we escort politicians making the public think we are on their side there after deciding to politicise the business. We are neutral. I think to manage this, the electoral commission should ban boda bodas from escorting politicians.

What are the challenges in the boda boda business?
Apart from the iron bar hit men who steal our boda bodas and kill our friends too, our fellow road users make life hard for us wanting to use the roads alone. They park anywhere they want on the road and blame accidents on us.

What are you doing to deal with this?
We work with tracking companies and we manage to recover some stolen boda bodas but we would like to come together as a joint force of boda boda associations to fight the marginalisation by other road users.

Aren’t there too many associations in the country already?
We have hope it will be possible because we believe police uses the advantage of the many associations to torture us.
We have interfaced with different stakeholders, I am positive we are getting there. The minister of security also gave us space at his chambers where we can figure out a way to form a unifying body.
What about the recent trend of boda bodas being used for murder?
That is character assassination. It is not a boda boda that kills but a motorcycle. The vastness of the boda boda business makes us liable to all accusations of murders and crime simply because we are not united. We are not the murderers; it’s the deserters from security companies hiding within the boda boda industry that are killing people.

Who are these and how can they be curbed?
These are mostly people who were chased out of the security companies for bad behaviour.
Government should lock up all these people, unify them and provide them capital since it is only the gun they know. It is worrying that their whereabouts are not monitored.

What are you doing to clean up the image of boda bodas in the murder cases?
We have written a document to present to the Speaker of Parliament to control dealers in used spare parts and motorcycles so that offenders have nowhere to sell them.
This will put an end to boda boda riders being implicated in murders because of buying old spare parts for their motorcycles.
How do you want to be remembered?
A person who agitated for the freedom of boda boda operators and reclaiming of their image. I want to streamline the industry such that people can get into it as a job and not an alternative.
I am currently fighting poverty among the boda boda riders by lobbying for loans for them in banks for development.

How do you want authorities to help you achieve this?
They should allow us restore joint operation security where the boda business only reports to the IGP.
Government should also help us organise elections of headship in the joint body that we are yet to form and ban whoever fails to subscribe to this body from operating.

A FEW BAD APPLES
You are generally known for vulgarity and breaking traffic rules. Why?
We have two categories of people in this business; those with stages and those without. Most of those you are referring to are those without stages, no permits, third party insurance and they have caused a lot of accidents. Otherwise, a customer can report a rider back to the stage of pick up where they can be punished and their behaviour checked. Each stage has different measures of handling indiscipline cases. I, otherwise, also blame this reputation on the authorities. Those implementing the traffic rules are after money. Riders are many and need to be streamlined and sensitised about how to live harmoniously with other road users.