When President Mwai Kibaki’s administration waived import taxes for light motorcycles, it birthed an innovative employment route for thousands of Kenyan youth.
Nearly two decades later, the same industry has become a threat to national security and pushed the State into strict regulation to seal loopholes that have allowed for multiple criminal syndicates to thrive on two wheels.
In the Jukwaa la Usalama report, which President William Ruto released at State House on Tuesday, the Interior ministry revealed that in Kisii County, one gang made up of bodaboda riders has gone as far as setting up a detention centre.
That gang, the report states, is at times hired by politicians.
“This (bodaboda menace) is pronounced in Kisii County where a group of bodaboda riders have organized themselves into a gang used by political leaders. The gang operates an illegal detention centre used for torturing rival bodaboda groups and political rivals. They also run an extortion ring and commit murder,” the report states.
To regulate the industry, Interior CS Kipchumba Murkomen intends to have all bodaboda operators grouped in saccos, and compelled to wear county-specific reflectors which can help identify individuals in the event of law violations.
The industry will, like the matatu industry, largely self-regulate as sacco leaders will be tasked with ensuring that members abide by the law.
The report also cites Nairobi, Kakamega, Vihiga, Siaya, Kisumu, Busia, Bungoma, Trans Nzoia, Migori and Kiambu Counties as other devolved units where bodaboda-related crimes have been on a rise.
Boda boda riders protest in Kisumu on August 25, 2025.
Photo credit: Alex Odhiambo | Nation Media Group
In Nairobi, aside from infiltration by criminals, bodaboda operators stand accused of violating traffic rules and endangering the lives of passengers, motorists and pedestrians.
The report further states that some operators across the country assist in transporting stolen goods and shielding other criminals from arrest.
Formally registered bodaboda associations have helped law enforcement by sharing information about crimes their members witnessed, the report adds.
President Ruto’s predecessor, Uhuru Kenyatta, had started walking a similar path in March, 2022 when a sea of bodaboda riders attacked, and sexually assaulted a driver along Wangari Maathai road in Nairobi.
The woman allegedly hit a pedestrian, and dozens of bodaboda operators responded with the assault as some threatened to burn her car – an act that had become common in altercations involving the riders.
Bodaboda riders wait for customers along Moi Avenue.
Photo credit: File | Nation Media Group
Police arrested 16 bodaboda operators in connection with the assault, triggering a sense of soberness in the sector over the next few months. That calm did not last long.
In August, 2025 bodaboda riders in Nairobi burnt down a City Hoppa bus along Jogoo road after a traffic incident. A month later, bodaboda riders in Vihiga burnt down a matatu in Vihiga County.
The Jukwaa la Usalama report states that in Busia and Bungoma, bodabodas are used to smuggle illicit brews from Uganda.
