The bodaboda transforms life in Kisii town

By MERCY OMWONY
Published September 6, 2009

Riders waiting for customers

Did you know that a motorbike does not have reverse gear? Neither did I until I had to get off one for the rider to turn back due to lack of space for a U-turn. Interesting you may say, but you have seen nothing yet of the bodaboda (motorcycle taxi) world that’s taking Kisii by storm.

They come in different brands (China made of course), sizes, colours and shades with some having state-of-the-art mini-speakers for the fm radios and revolving lights around the tyre rims. Others are ‘pimped’ with neon lights, an interesting spectacle at dawn or in the twilight hours of the day.

The riders are diverse, ranging from 17 year olds to 60-year-old men. It is a form of employment that has given opportunities to many people, both young and old in this area at a time when the world is facing a global economic recession. Although bicycles were previously available, the Kisii topography hindered their use. The area is hilly with mainly rough roads.

Motorcycle riders have become a favourite with the various banks in Kisii town for loan facilities. “They are becoming like the teachers; they get loans that they are able to repay in a short time and that qualifies them to take loans of higher amounts,” an employee at a local bank revealed.

Take Evans Omosa for example. He has managed to build a permanent house from the loans he took from a local farmers’ group. “The first loan I got was for US$ 395 with the motorcycle log book as collateral. After repaying and putting up a structure, I was able to get more with the logbook and the house as security and now I am about to finish paying the last loan I took of US$ 2,631.”

This story is told by many other riders who have improved their lives and those of their loved ones. For some, being able to put three square meals on the table for their families is enough proof that the motorcycle is changing lives in Kisii. Although they are the cause of nearly 60 percent of accident in the area, they are still a favourite among the locals. According to statistics, there are two motorcycle accidents everyday and in the 14 per week, five are fatal, and others causing serious injuries. Unfortunately most of the accidents are out of carelessness on the part of the riders.

The strange part is that you will never see a motorcycle student being given lessons by the various driving schools in town. They do it juakali (unprofessionally) style, meaning that 80 percent of the riders don’t have the Class F & G licenses they are supposed to have according to the Traffic Act. This and the fact that they hardly keep to their designated lanes, meandering between vehicles without any helmets might explain the high number of accidents.

Motorcycles on display for sale

Motorcycles mainly compete with taxi (cab) drivers, a fact that has brought about some bad blood amongst the riders and the taxi drivers. When the motorcyles were first introduced some riders could go missing and would found dead days later while some would be knocked off the roads by ‘unknown’ motorists and left for dead. It was common knowledge among the riders that the culprits were the taxi drivers. Some cases are being treated as murder and are still in court today.

In a recent incident, a motorcycle owner was violently killed by two people who posed as customers. After chopping off the victim’s head with a machete, they rode off with the stolen motorcyle. However, one of the two men’s legs was caught between the tyre’s spool cutting off the tendons and the veins forcing his colleague to abandon him by the roadside. On discovering the headless body, villagers quickly followed the blood trail of the murderer and found him unconscious. After bringing him back to consciousness, the villagers interrogated him and forced him to name his accomplices after which they doused him in petrol and burnt him alive. More and more riders kept trickling in and adding petrol to the burning body. By the time the police arrived at the scene, all they collected were bones.

“It is the only way they will learn and not steal from us. Wametuzoea vibaya sana (they have made it a habit to steal from us),” said one of the riders. No suspects have been arrested as the remains lie in the Nyamira District Mortuary awaiting burial.

A typical day of bodaboda (motorcycle taxi) rider can start as early as 4 a.m. depending on whether you have an early client or not. On weekends however, the days don’t start, they just never end! During the week some clients use the bodaboda services to take them to work and their children to school. On a good day, one can go home with US$10 to US$13. Some of these riders have an agreement with the motorcycle owners to bring home a flat rate of US$5 a day for a year after which they will either buy the motorcycle at half the original price or renew the contract. With approximately US$1,842 as profit, proceeds from a motorcycle whose showroom price range from US$790 to US$1315, it is a lucrative business.

Motorcycles in ware house for sale

Most young people have opted to go ‘solo’ after their contracts, more often than not eventually buying their own motorcyles or starting up different business after saving up. Their cut can be as much as US$10 or as little as a dollar. Sometimes they take to their employees less than the agreed US$5 due to police harassment. For you to have a stress free day with the cops, you need to have a valid license and a valid number plate for the motorcycle. On seeking anopinion of the traffic policemen, one officer told me; “Hawa wabodaboda, ni vijana wenye upuzi sana lakini kuna wale wenye bidii (these motorcycle taxi riders are jokers but there are those who are serious). In fact if they could all have a vision like most of them, we would not be dealing with their accident cases so much like we are now.”

“After finishing my class eight I had no money to go back to school. I had been polishing shoes for a living but when the motor bike craze hit Kisii, I decided to change my trade,” Nick Mjumbe tells me as I pay him for dropping me at the office one day.

He has managed to buy his own motorcycle from savings he made from the first one he managed for a primary school teacher. His family is better off now that he can feed, clothe and educate them. He is an orphan with three other siblings, a wife and three of his own children.

A former headmaster who is a regular bodaboda user is happy to see his former students doing something constructive with their lives. “It is better to do this than to go steal or smoke bhang (weed),” says Mr Zachary Ogaro, who is a favourite passenger to most of the riders who were his students at some of point.

What I am yet to see is a female bodaboda rider. Talk about emancipation in the work place! However, next time you engage the riders’ services, ask for a valid license from a recognized driving school, it is your right.

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