Boda-boda is a motorcycle designed for engaging in the business of transporting people and goods from place to place.

The numbers of Boda-boda riders most especially in Kampala business district has hit its apex on the watch of the regulators due to their ability to determine the political might of candidates.

They enjoyed immunity from full swing regulation and enforcement but gone are the days.

It is to this note that the numbers of Boda-Boda around the country are on the surge due to their lucrative nature and labeled as economical means of transport.

The regulators have been activated from slumber because over 94% of the Riders have no driving Licenses but doing business in the transport sector.

The awakening brought about the super imposition of a lengthy process of attaining a license and this has disadvantaged both the government and Boda-Boda riders.

The government is missing the 94% revenue from Boda-Boda operators undergoing non statutory exploitation just because of the unfair fees levied for processing a driving permit that are equivalent to that of a motor vehicle whose returns on investments is un imaginably higher than the Boda-Boda.

The Boda-boda riders are now facing a nightmare with the law enforcement agencies.

In any clash between a traffic officer and a Boda-Boda rider, the first document asked is the driving license hence making a boda boda rider vulnerable because he or she is on the bad side of the Law.

It is to this background that Ethical African Organization, a think tank in Entebbe focused on improving society through advocating for economic rights, has developed a national wide project called

‘Yamba Owaboda Akole” to provide solutions that benefit both the regulators and Boda- boda riders.

These include but are not limited to the following;

• Conduct doctrinal and non-doctrinal research on the realities facing Boda-Boda riders in Uganda.
• Educate and sensitize Boda-Boda riders on the benefits and process of having a driving licensing.
• Draft policy alternatives for the legislators to consider possible amendments and restructure the fees required to license the Boda-boda.
• Pass through litigation for constitutional court for interpretation and testing questionable regulations that are affecting the economic rights of Boda-Boda riders.
• Change the face of Boda-boda riders in the country as there has been a stereotype of boda boda riders being violent, accident propagators and immoral.
• Attract the female gender to join the Boda- boda business as it is discriminatory to be dominated by males.

In Conclusion, the struggle is aimed at scoring policy wins to safeguard the economic rights of Boda- Boda riders in Uganda. The approach to this is ranging through music, articles, policy proposals, stake holders engagements, campaigns, media discussions and petitions.(By Lutakome Imran Kigongo)