Nairobi boda boda riders vow to defy ban from city centre

Boda boda riders protest along Kimathi Street in Nairobi on November 11, 2015. A boda boda operator (not in this picture) was on December 1, 2015 sentenced to death for killing his concubine, dismembering her body and throwing some of her body parts in a pit latrine and others in a river. PHOTO | EVANS HABIL | NATION MEDIA GROUP

By  MUCHEMI WACHIRA

What you need to know:

  • In downtown Nairobi, matatu saccos are scrambling for the limited space to use as pick-up and drop-off points for their passengers.
  • But it was not until three months ago that the boda boda riders started occupying the upper section of the city centre.
  • Last week Governor Evans Kidero banned all motorcycles from ferrying passengers to or from the city centre.
  • The whole of downtown east of Tom Mboya Street has very little space left for the boda bodas.

Boda boda riders have vowed to defy a City Hall directive to move out of Nairobi’s city centre.

The riders have taken over almost every open space in the already congested city.

This has made things difficult for the business community.

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In downtown Nairobi, matatu saccos are scrambling for the limited space to use as pick-up and drop-off points for their passengers.

As a result, the whole of downtown east of Tom Mboya Street has very little space left for the boda bodas.

But it was not until three months ago that the boda boda riders started occupying the upper section of the city centre, where few open spaces are available.

The Nairobi County government had remained silent on the matter and it is only last week that Governor Evans Kidero banned all motorcycles from ferrying passengers to or from the city centre.

“We have no single designated stage for the boda bodas in the city centre,” county transport executive Mohamed Abdullahi told the Nation shortly before the ban was imposed.

However, after the ban was issued in a notice published in local newspapers, the boda boda riders held a protest in town.

Through their association, they held a meeting at Uhuru Park and resolved to raise money to file a case in court, seeking an injunction to restrain City Hall from flushing them out of the city centre.

The riders, according to their chairman, Mr Kennedy Onyango, are now working to raise Sh1 million to hire a lawyer to file the case.

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