Not even a month happened that Boda Bodas were passed to operate full time, and after that, it has been reported that there is a spike in the number of crimes aided by cyclists.
During the reports, it is found that many crimes occur in the peak hours of traffic, which is early morning and at night.
According to one of the robbery victims, ‘Asha Gimono’ was recently riding on a Boda Boda in the nighttime with her friend when another cyclist carrying two people intercepted them.
They were headed to their hostel in Makerere.
She added that they punched our cyclist first and gave us orders to get down.
Then the cyclists turned robbers beat us to the ground, and they snatched our bags and phones, then off they disappeared in thin air.”
According to ‘Joseph Habiremye’ one of the leaders of Boda Boda cyclists in Kampala central division stated that the government had not supported their initiative of trying to identify cyclists using reflector jackets.
Habirewye urged all boda-boda users to always use cyclists who are dressed in a reflector jacket to have the guarantee of security.
The candidates who are registered can easily be traced down in case of immoral behaviour, he said.
Moreover, Habiremye asked the government to make collaborate with boda-boda leaders and support the security measures put up by Boda Boda leaders in their decentralized units.
Last month, police arrested 13 members of the criminal gang that operates on Boda Bodas to terrorize public members, especially foreigners they target for their cash.
Even footage of CCTV camera video was leaked in which they showed that the gang members seizing on Dawit Kasa, a diplomat at the Ethiopian Embassy in Kampala, in broad daylight.
According to police spokesperson ‘Fred Enanga’, an operation carried out by the Police Flying Squad has led to the arrest of 13 gang members, including the ring leaders.
