Cabinet to release Boda-boda registration roadmap

KAMPALA. Cabinet is finalising a paper comprised of guidelines for the massive registration of all Boda-Boda cyclists in the country to streamline the entire industry, Kampala Minister Beti Olive Kamya has revealed.

The revelation comes on the heels of the soaring anxiety among Boda-boda motorists, who have been demanding for the apex leadership of their industry to weed out manipulative and scandal-tainted elements.

Speaking to Daily Monitor in an interview today, the Minister noted that when cabinet finishes drafting the paper with all guidelines and roadmap for the registration exercise, it will then be submitted to Parliament for final scrutiny.

“The paper about the roadmap of the registration exercise will be out in a week’s time. The matter is now before cabinet and we are making final touches to ensure that this activity is done once and for all, because it’s incumbent upon us as leaders to streamline the Boda-boda industry.” Ms Kamya said.

The paper, Ms Kamya added, will contain the roadmap for the entire exercise, identity of all cyclists, a data bank for all Boda-Boda cyclists in the country, stages of operations, taxes to be charged by authorities, dates for election of apex body and the general requirements for one to ride a Boda-Boda, among others.

The Minister explained that although the registration exercise had been delayed by an instrument to guide the entire process, government has since established that there are other laws under which the operations of Boda-Boda fall, adding that there is no need for a new law for now.

“For instance, there is the Local governments (Kampala City Council Maintenance of Law and Order) Ordinance 2006, the Traffic and Road safety Act 1998, and the KCCA Act which provides for the management of Traffic. We strongly believe that these are strong laws which will guide the entire exercise,” she said.

Asked about the Boda-boda ordinance which she had tasked Kampala Lord Mayor, Erias Lukwago to prepare last year, Ms Kamya said that KCCA can prepare a comprehensive Act later which will cover some of the gaps in the existing laws, stressing that the Boda-boda registration exercise will have to go on as planned by government.

“Uganda’s name has been tarnished because of this unregulated Boda-Boda exercise to an extent that some investors are scared of the menace caused by these cyclists. Besides, government spends a lot of money on treating the causalities of Boda-boda victims. But with the new guidelines, all this will be reduced,” she said.

Last week, leaders of some Boda-Boda associations told Mr Lukwago during an engagement meeting at city hall that government should ban all the associations in the Boda-Boda industry to mitigate clashes, which they said, have paralysed the entire industry.

Daily Monitor has further established that Prime Minister, Dr Ruhakana Rugunda, has invited several ministers and other relevant authorities for a crisis meeting at his office on Wednesday to discuss how the registration roadmap will be packaged before Cabinet sends it to Parliament.

Although minister Kamya confirmed this meeting, she declined to delve into details, referring us to the Prime Minister’s communication department for further details.

Some of the Ministries involved are; Ministry of works and Transport, Ministry of Kampala Affairs, Ministry of internal Affairs, Ministry of security, Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Gender, and Police, among others.

Last month, security operatives raided the offices of Boda-boda 2010 and arrested their patron, Mr Abdallah Kitata and others for allegedly carrying out criminal acts against humanity.

Boda-boda 2010 is alleged backed by IGP Gen. Kale Kayihura as its ‘god father’.

His arrest took the whole city by the storm, forcing authorities to start preparations for the registration of all Boda-boda motorists.

Currently, Boda-boda motorists don’t pay any revenue to government and neither do they have gazetted stages.

This has always raised queries on why they don’t pay taxes yet they are using services like roads which are provided for by the government. Their actual number remains unknown.

The Boda-Boda Industry is arguably the largest sector in Uganda employing majority the youth, some of whom are graduates.
In 2013, KCCA attempted to register all Boda-Bodas in the city but the exercise suffered a still birth when Police intervened and suspended the exercise. Since then, the industry has been dogged with clashes, especially among rival groups.
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