President Uhuru orders countrywide crackdown on boda boda riders
President Uhuru Kenyatta on Tuesday ordered a national crackdown on the boda boda sector following an incident that caused a national uproar on Friday, March 4 where boda boda operators were captured on camera assaulting a female motorist in Nairobi.
Speaking at the Kenya School of Government, where he led the country in celebrating International Women's Day, the president ordered a crackdown on rogue boda boda riders and warned politicians against politicizing the matter.
The Head of State who condemned the Friday incident noted that the operators did not only assault the woman driver but also soiled her reputation; something that his administration will not condone.
"A boda boda is not a licence to strip a woman. There should never be a repeat of what happened on Friday. This is a blight on the whole Kenyan society," President Uhuru said.
President Uhuru said that though he supports the boda boda business, he will not sit back and watch those in the sector interfere with a woman's dignity. As a punishment for the act, the president ordered the re-registration of all the boda bodas in the country.
"We want to support the bodaboda business but it is not a license for a boda boda to do drive-by shootings and most definitely it is not a license for you to strip and remove dignity from our women. We will re-register all bodabodas. Those who want to politicize this let them go ahead and do that," he said.
The president all acknowledged the good deeds the boda boda operators have been involved in. He said that though the operators have also made headlines for good reasons, that was not a licence for them to assault a woman.
"We have heard of many heroic stories of young men who have come to the rescue of people and women in distress but that is not a licence for you to remove dignity from our women," he said.
