A boda-boda rider ferries a passenger in Eldoret town, Uasin Gishu County.
I don’t tweet or write this column to be popular. I do it to educate, provoke, annoy, entertain, bloviate and even amuse myself. Most of all, I tweet and write to get folks excited, whether in anger, agreement, laughter or even hate.
I would quit writing if people yawned while reading my work. The thing is, I appreciate this wide range of emotion. That’s the barometer I use to determine whether I am teaching, which is the labour of my love.
That’s why I was in Cloud Nine last week when my tweet on boda boda ran the gamut of feelings. Most fulfilling was the reaction by the boda boda association, which retrieved its machete and frantically came baying for my blood. In the tweet, I stated the obvious – that the boda boda industry has become a blight and an abomination upon our land.
In hindsight, some of the most well-intentioned ideas turn out to be the most abominable. I am sure President Mwai Kibaki couldn’t predict when he allowed the boda boda on our roads that they would become so primitive and primaeval.
Mad gremlins
In traffic terms, the boda boda have returned us to the Stone Age. Often, when I see what the boda boda have done to our traffic, I feel as though we are back to the age when humans walked on all fours before we evolved into modern Homo sapiens. One can suffer a stroke from the incredulity of it all.
This is what happens in Kenya’s major cities and towns, which are condemned to the menace of boda boda. Like mad gremlins, boda boda weave in and out of traffic in their thousands without regard to red lights or any known traffic rules. They whiz by at high speeds as though they were the king of the road, often with two or even four passengers hanging on perilously for dear life.
I’ve never seen a boda boda passenger with a helmet in Kenya. Pregnant women and little children are usually cargo together with live chickens and other goods. When these reckless riders collide with motorists because of their dare-devil speeds, their army of comrades usually appears from nowhere and beats the motorist senseless.
That’s not all. Boda boda have no qualms moving against the traffic or overtaking in the most dangerous manner. They’ve perished in large numbers. Pitifully, many don’t wear helmets and are unlicensed, uninsured or both. Some even have no licence plates. Nairobi, which styles itself a global city, is the most pathetic. No modern city anywhere in the world can tolerate such chaos, mayhem, and blatant illegality.
Impunity
Sadly, it seems that our traffic laws mean nothing to boda boda and to the traffic police, who stand by helplessly. The political class has succumbed to the boda boda, who it often weaponise against opponents. Long story short – the boda boda are untouchable. They operate with impunity and immunity.
There’s no doubt the boda boda fill a need because of our failed transportation infrastructure. Today, they provide livelihoods for hundreds of thousands. Many angry commenters to my tweet pointed out these facts. I don’t disagree.
But that’s no reason to spare them the axe. There are many unlawful activities and cartels that do even more to sustain large populations. Drug trafficking is one. Petty theft rings are another. So are corruption networks in government.
These and many others lose the country billions. Yet no one will stand up and openly defend them. From where I sit, the boda boda problem can only get worse. By their very nature, regulation is futile. The only solution is a total ban, except in remote areas of the country.
Existential threat
More importantly, the boda boda industry is a national security threat. Soon, they will become something akin to a militia with warlords. They will control our politics and inch us ever so perilously to becoming another Haiti. Who knows? They may even start arming themselves to challenge the state’s monopoly of violence.
Many of our politicians are thugs who wouldn’t mind commanding armies of boda boda militias. I am serious. I see the boda boda becoming an existential threat to the republic. We must act now before it’s too late. President Kibaki made a terrible, inadvertent error, but we don’t have to live in the sewer he originated. We need political courage to cut off the head of this snake before it devours us all.
During the African Union Commission chairperson campaign for ODM’s Raila Odinga, we traversed Africa. One thing stood out. Only Rwanda had the most organised and regulated boda boda industry. It was truly a marvel to behold – all wore helmets, usually in designated spots, and observant of traffic rules to a fault. More developed countries like Morocco or South Africa had no boda boda. Even Ethiopia doesn’t. We must get rid of them.
Makau Mutua is SUNY Distinguished Professor and Margaret W. Wong Professor at Buffalo Law School, The State University of New York. He’s Senior Advisor on Constitutional Affairs to President William Ruto. @makaumutua.
