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Mount operation to curb boda boda thefts, deaths

Editorial logo Nation.Africa

By  Editorial

The boda boda sub-sector is an important means of passenger and cargo motorbike transportation that is accessible and affordable countrywide. It is also a source of employment, especially for the many idle youth, including school dropouts.

This public transport service is also a lucrative business for the sellers of motorbikes. Many people cannot afford to pay cash for the bikes and, therefore, this has spawned a highly profitable lending business. The borrowers can pay several hundred shillings every day until they clear their loans.

Sadly, boda boda has also attracted cartels that steal and sell motorbikes across the borders in Uganda, Tanzania and Ethiopia. And this vital service has increasingly become quite dangerous for the riders with the killings of the riders. Some have been lured to their deaths by their regular customers.

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The cross-border thefts syndicate has become more vicious, as the motorbikes are easily disposed of cheaply through the unofficial border entry and exit points popularly known as panya routes. A bike costing more than Sh200,000 is easily sold at, say, Sh30,000.

In Kajiado County, which borders Tanzania, at least 10 people were killed last year. Another 50 riders were injured and 600 motorcycles stolen. The thefts are a big blow to families in the rural areas whose kin sell land to buy motorcycles, while others take out loans to invest in this transport business.

And there is a ready black market across the borders. Victims find themselves helpless as investigating agencies are reportedly not keen to follow up the thefts. As a result, desperate boda boda riders are now taking the law into their own hands, attacking suspected motorbike thieves and their accomplices.

With the rampant thefts, there is a need to enforce the registration of all boda boda riders and operators to ease monitoring and tracking of stolen bikes. The rising thefts and killings of the riders call for a major national police operation and thereafter, regular checks to smoke out the criminals.


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