Boda-boda riders front colleague to unseat Museveni
Mr Francis Mawejje, a boda-boda rider, launches his 2026 presidential bid in Kampala on April 14, 2025. Photo/Busein Samilu
What you need to know:
- Mawejje said his leadership will focus on tackling youth unemployment, improving health and education systems, eradicating nepotism and favoritism, curbing corruption, and reducing the high cost of production.
Boda-boda riders in Kampala have fronted one of their own, Francis Mawejje, to challenge President Museveni in the upcoming 2026 general elections.
Mawejje, a 2024 graduate of Cavendish University, was unveiled on April 14 at a ceremony held in Mengo-Lungujja, a Kampala suburb. During the event, he launched his “Boda-boda manifesto” and outlined a seven-point programme which he said would rescue Uganda from its current social and economic challenges.
Addressing supporters, Mawejje said his leadership will focus on tackling youth unemployment, improving health and education systems, eradicating nepotism and favoritism, curbing corruption, and reducing the high cost of production.
“I believe what I see is what you my fellow Ugandans see, 80 percent of our economy is a 'Boda Economy'. Boda Economy literally means the 'Hands To Mouth Economy'. People leave their homes not knowing whether they will earn something,” he said.
“People share one shop—almost six of them—but they still fail at the end of the month. Some, by the way, call back home around 10:00 am or 11:00 am that they have at least gotten something for the day. So the BODA economy is something that has to do with accidents and no one will rescue,” he added.
He painted a picture of economic instability where ordinary Ugandans, particularly in the informal sector, face daily hardships without support or safety nets.
“If a boda-boda guy gets a road accident, it will take him months to recover and no support is coming from either government or anywhere. You are bedridden without even an insurance policy. A business like mobile money makes a loss in a transaction—that is already an accident,” Mawejje said.
“This applies to Maama Naaki who has a restaurant, cooks her food and the whole day no one eats—it’s an accident. A mother vending stockings and handkerchiefs arrested by Kampala Capital City Authority, all her capital is taken—that is a pure accident. Spending six months in the garden growing maize at a high cost of pesticides and other chemicals, but at the end of the season the prices fall to Shs300 a kilo—that's a proper accident in farming,” Mawejje added.
Fellow boda-boda riders who attended the launch said it was time to elevate one of their own to national leadership to address the disorder in their industry.
“Whoever wants to cause chaos, come to Boda-Boda. We are tired of being used,” said Moses Miro, a rider.
Mawejje's candidacy adds to a growing list of young Ugandans seeking to challenge the status quo. He becomes the second youthful contender to declare interest in the presidency, following David Magezi, a MUBS graduate who announced his bid in February.
President Museveni, who has been in power since 1986, has faced major opposition from figures like Dr Kizza Besigye, who challenged him in four elections (2001, 2006, 2011, and 2016), and Robert Kyagulanyi (Bobi Wine), his main challenger in 2021.
The next general elections are scheduled for January 2026.
