Boda boda riders appeal ruling on city centre ban

Boda Boda operators wait for customers along Kimathi Street in Nairobi on September 18, 2015. PHOTO | SALATON NJAU | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Exactly a year since Governor Evans Kidero directed that the operators be banned from the CBD, court cases have blocked its implementation.
  • Speaking on phone, Dr Ayisi gave the operators two weeks to leave the city centre after a Court ruled in the county’s favour, giving it the green-light to remove them from the city centre.

Motorcyclists in Nairobi have appealed against a court ruling barring them from operating in the city centre.

Their Association's chairperson Ken Onyango said the riders are demanding an alternative space, noting the county has been generating revenue from them.

This is after the County Secretary Robert Ayisi gave them two weeks to leave city centre.
“Just like the hawkers have designated areas to operate from, our appeal in court is that we cannot be thrown out of the CBD without an alternative," said Mr Onyango.

He said that the new transport regulations requires the county, in collaboration with the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) to establish operating areas for them.

Mr Onyango lamented that city officials have been arresting them despite paying a Sh3000 per motorcycle.

He said that they have over 23 Saccos and 600 motorcyclists operating in the city and that only 18 Saccos comply while the others have members who flout traffic laws.

“We have crooks among ourselves. I won't say we are saints but a few of us are not behaving well on the road,” said Mr Onyango.

Consequently, he claimed that city officers had formed a cartel which collects Sh4,000 from riders to allow them to pick and wait for passengers in different parts of the city.

Those who do not part with the cash, he said, have their motorcycles impounded and attracts a storage fee of Sh1000 per day.

Exactly a year since Governor Evans Kidero directed that the operators be banned from the CBD, court cases have blocked its implementation.

“Pursuant to the provisions of the Traffic Act CAP 403 of 2014 of the Laws of the Republic of Kenya, the Nairobi City County Government wishes to inform all motorcycle (boda boda) operators ferrying passengers to and from the Central Business District (CBD) that such activities have been banned with immediate effect,” he stated in a notice on November 15, last year.

Speaking on phone, Dr Ayisi gave the operators two weeks to leave the city centre after a Court ruled in the county’s favour, giving it the green-light to remove them from the city centre.