How East Africa’s bodaboda became menace and political tool

Boda boda riders exacerbate Kampala’s traffic congestion by flouting road rules.

Photo credit: File | Nation Media Group

On a typical morning in Kampala, engines roar to life at 5am. By 7am, traffic jams choke the city, with Jinja Road, Bombo Road and Entebbe Road reduced to parking lots.

That is when bodabodas — motorbike taxis — take over, carrying pillion passengers, sometimes more than one, weaving between vans, buses and cars, and even forcing pedestrians off walkways.