The Weekly Observer (Kampala)
27 August 2008
editorial
Order is urgently needed in Kampala City.
The city is jammed with an army of motorcycle riders commonly known as boda boda. These riders, coupled with the rowdy commuter taxi drivers, have made traffic flow in the city a nightmare.
First, these riders lack basic knowledge about road use. Many of them have no drivers' licences; they abuse drugs, don't obey traffic rules. And because they don't follow rules, they ride on the walkways, ending up knocking and injuring pedestrians. Others disrespect traffic lights and often crash into vehicles, often killing or maiming themselves, their passengers and other unfortunate people.
Kampala city centre was never planned for such an upsurge of matatus or motor bikes. Traffic police have begun a campaign to enforce the wearing of crash helmets by both passengers and riders. But this alone cannot be a solution to the chaos and road carnage caused by these reckless riders. City authorities need to remove these boda boda and matatus from the central business district and introduce buses that ply different zones in the city.
Yes, the city authorities can borrow money or engage private entrepreneurs to buy city buses that can be used to ply all the routes. There should be a terminal where matutus and boda boda from the suburbs deliver passengers and then loop on the buses that ply the city. The authorities should introduce prohibitive fees for people who just want to drive into the city. Even personal vehicles should be charged a fee when they drive into the city. And this can be achieved without making the riders and drivers lose their jobs. So the argument that when the drivers are chased from the city they will become a security threat as a result of being unemployed does not stand.
Unfortunately, politics often mars the management of the city. When the city authorities tried to remove boda boda and taxis from the city centre, the President and his bevy of advisers complained that the opposition was frustrating his voters. Even the mayor, Nasser Sebaggala, who benefited from their support to win, cannot afford to antagonise them.
But selfish political considerations should not stand in the way of a clean, orderly, secure capital.
Read comments. Write your own.
Copyright © 2008 The Weekly Observer. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
I have never commented on an article ever (and I am not young). I've have watched in dismay over the past 3 decades as the transportation situation in my beloved city where I grew up deteriorated, for various reasons. However, all said and done, the worst addition to the scene has been boda bodas. The boda boda's in Kampala are a menace, a health hazard, an eye sore, not to mention the people who get maimed every day! After having recently returned from Accra, where these motorcyles for hire are bannned, the sharp contrast with Kampala and the relief their… [Read Full Text]