Senators have raised questions over the criteria used to crack down on the boda boda sector by the Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i.
This follows the presidential directive after a public outcry when a female motorist was allegedly assaulted by rogue boda boda riders along Wangari Mathai road in Nairobi.
The lawmakers have called for the need for all stakeholders’ involvement in crafting and enforcing regulations for the multi-billion industry. The Senators argued that the reforms in the sector have to be effected properly to weed out the rogue riders without affecting compliance with the law.
Nairobi senator Johnson Sakaja insisted that the operation should be in accordance with the law to restore sanity in the entire sector.
The lawmakers have summoned Transport CS, James Macharia, top officials of National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) and the boda boda associations to meet with the Senate’s Security and Transport Committees to find a way forward in the enforcement of the crackdown, as stated by the session’s speaker Judy Pareno.
The President, while announcing the crackdown on Tuesday as he led the International Women’s Day’s celebration warned the perpetrators that his government will not tolerate such gruesome acts.
H.E Uhuru received by First Lady Margaret and Rwanda’s First Lady Jeanette at Kenya School of Government during Women’s Day Celebrations.
“We have heard of many heroic stories of young men who have come to the rescue of people and women in distress,”
The President said and urged boda boda sector stakeholders to support Government efforts to streamline the sector.
“A boda boda is not a license to strip a woman and remove her dignity. There should never be a repeat of what happened on Friday. This is a blemish on the whole Kenyan society,” Uhuru remarked.
Adding that, “We want to support the boda boda business but our efforts should not make them believe that they can do drive-by shootings. We will re-register all boda boda. Those who want to politicize this let them go ahead and do so.”
By now up to 200 riders have been apprehended and each fined ksh 35,000 since the Forest Road incident, this comes as the DCI has identified the mastermind behind the Friday incident who is still at large.
