Bodaboda operators in Kisii County have been urged to bear with the registration officials as the exercise picks up slowly due to the centralized Huduma Centre services at the headquarters.
Speaking during the launch of the registration exercise in Kisii town, Principal Secretary (PS) for Physical Planning Enosh Momanyi, stated that the registration officers are doing their best to offer the services in 52 Huduma Centres nationwide saying the services have not been decentralized.
Momanyi said that it reached a time when the government decided to organize and professionalize the sector noting that it will be elevated from being a general undertaking for the public to a professional sector.
“The government is bringing sanity, discipline, order, enhanced security, and safety in the bodaboda sector to give it value and make it a recognized sector within the economy. The moment it is professionalized, the income riders normally will also be boosted,” added Momanyi.
The PS noted that the conservative figures show that there are around 1.5 million motorcycles and 7.5 million people get ferried by the bodaboda riders daily, adding that the contribution of the sector to the economy is enormous and its value should not be understated.
He added that according to the 2015 National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) report, those people who had fatalities were less than 700 as compared to the last year’s report where 2000 people lost their lives as a result of rogue bodaboda operators.
“We cannot sit and watch an irresponsible sector emerging within our boundaries. We want to enhance discipline. It is not punitive and it is not targeting a section of people to push them out of employment. It is to make sure everyone has basic qualifications and those who have needs for training be identified early and be directed where to go for the training,” said Momanyi.
He asked the Huduma Centre officers to have a system that will make sure boda boda operators who cannot be registered at the end of the day are given priority the next day adding that they can be given numbers to facilitate the registration and help them not to make several trips to the Centre.
Kitutu Central Deputy County Commissioner Wilberforce Kilonzo, said that bodaboda operators in Kisii County have been sensitized through the administration office and in collaboration with NTSA and the police, they will all know the importance of the registration exercise.
He added that there are fewer reported cases that emanate from the boda boda operators in the county saying they will collaborate with their leaders to ensure that the exercise is a success.
Huduma Kisii Centre Manager, Stella Wanyela, stated that they have managed to register 720 bodaboda operators since the exercise kicked off adding that the county has many riders but they will manage to achieve the numbers with the support they will be given.
Wanyela requested additional registration kits for the exercise saying they were given seven and some of them malfunctioned leading to a slow exercise.
By Augustine Mosioma
