Boda bodas still in the CBD despite Mike Sonko ban

Boda boda riders on January 26, 2018 wait for passengers at the junction of Tubman Road and Moi Avenue in Nairobi. On January 22, 2018, the county banned boda bodas from operating within the CBD. PHOTO | AGEWA MAGUT | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • On January 22, a gazette notice banned all boda bodas from the Nairobi CBD.
  • The only boda bodas allowed are those providing courier services.
  • Despite the ban, boda bodas are still in the CBD.

Has the boda boda ban in the CBD taken effect? Yes it has, according to the county government.

But on Friday operators were still plying their trade in the central business district.

'DODGY' OPERATORS

Speaking to the Nation on Friday, director of operations at Nairobi City Inspectorate Department Peter Mbaya confirmed that the operation is still underway and that boda boda motorcycles are being impounded as per the gazette notice issued on January 22.

“Boda boda operators are dodgy. It is very difficult to get them all, that’s why some are still on the roads. But our operation is still going on and we hope soon they will be off the roads,” Mr Mbaya said.

However, a spot check by the Nation revealed that it is business as usual for the boda boda operators.

BUSINESS AS USUAL

At the junction of Tom Mboya Street and Latema Road, along Moi Avenue next to the Bazaar and at the junction of Koinange and Moktar Daddah streets, boda boda operators, mostly in bright green reflector vests, congregated, waiting for people to ferry.

On most roads in the city centre, motorcycles ferrying passengers, some not even wearing helmets wove through traffic.

They were not visibly scared, but when City County vehicles passed by, they took cover, only to emerge from hiding once the coast was clear.

But when operators near The Bazaar on Moi Avenue saw city inspectorate officers, they sped off.

They later returned when they realised that the county officials were carrying out an operation on matatu operators.

BODA BODA BAN

On Monday, the county government banned boda bodas from the CBD.

The gazette notice said that only riders providing courier services would be allowed in the CBD.

It added that boda bodas ferrying passengers should drop them off at Ngara and City Stadium.

The notice warned of hefty fines, arrest and long jail terms if they break the new rules.

The ban was issued to help decongest the town as well as curtail crime.

Starehe MP Charles Njagua, under whose constituency the CBD falls, sued the governor on Wednesday for issuing the directive without consulting him.

He said the ban would hurt the operators, who eke a living from the trade.