Gov't stops countrywide crackdown on boda bodas

The government has stopped the crackdown of boda boda riders which was effected last week in an effort to weed out rogue operators in the sector.

This, according to the National Police Service (NPS), is to pave way for an imminent overhaul of the entire sector which is being conducted by the multi-sectoral committee tasked with the exercise.

"The Government ordered a traffic operation targeting public service motorcycles commonly known as boda bodas to enforce compliance with the Traffic Act and instill order in the transport sub-sector," said police spokesperosn Bruno Shioso in a statement.

"Following the directive, enforcement operations have been conducted across the country. Boda boda operators, riders and their motorcycles who are in violation of the Traffic Act have been nabbed and arraigned."

The statement added: "To effectively coordinate the implementation of the exercise with minimum disruptions to services offered by compliant Boda Boda operators, the Government has suspended the operation. This will allow the multisectoral committee coordinating it to develop a suitable implementation framework."

The police body has, however, warned that the existing prohibition of boda boda riders from the Nairobi Central Business District (CBD) is still in force.

"This suspension shall not apply to the Nairobi CBD where the ban remains in force," added Shioso.

President Uhuru Kenyatta ordered the nationwide crackdown of all operators last week following a horrifying incident where riders sexually assaulted a female driver on Wangari Maathai Road in Nairobi.

The Ministry of Interior further issued a raft of measures to help control the often-rogue sector within the next two months.

"We will begin with vetting all the riders. All riders must have smart licenses and you must all be in saccos," Interior CS Fred Matiang’i stated on March 9.

"Soon we shall give you a boda boda hotline where you can report certain things we need to know, slowly but surely we'll improve this sector."