Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen has announced a nationwide crackdown on rogue boda boda riders in a move aimed at dismantling criminal groups.
Speaking on Friday, September 12, in Kisii County, Murkomen directed police officers to identify and arrest criminals using boda bodas to rob residents and engage in other forms of crime.
He instructed the police to work jointly with the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) to ensure full compliance with the law, including the licensing of all boda riders.
"Some of these boda boda groups are being used to harass, beat and torture people. I have already informed security teams that there will be a major crackdown," Murkomen revealed.
"We must bring order to the boda boda sector. We will do so without fear or favour, without any ill will, and without considering political affiliations," the CS affirmed.
However, Murkomen commended a section of boda boda leaders in some counties for championing security by providing intelligence on criminal gangs.
This follows recent waves of incidents in which vehicles involved in road accidents were allegedly set ablaze by people believed to be from the boda boda sector.
In one such incident, boda boda riders in Luanda, Vihiga County, on September 6, burnt a 14-seater matatu for reportedly knocking down one of them along the Kisumu-Busia highway.
The agitated riders went on to turn away a fire engine that had been dispatched by the County Government to put out the flames. They then raided and looted sodas from a trailer that had stalled.
As tensions escalated, the riders barricaded the highway connecting Kenya and Uganda, paralysing transport along this critical route.
In a similar incident on September 1, another group of boda boda riders reportedly attacked and burnt down a vehicle belonging to a popular commuter bus company in Nairobi.
The boda riders allegedly burnt down a Super Metro minibus after it ran over their fellow rider along Thika Road near Juja Estate in Kiambu County.
