Boda boda operators have made an appeal to the government to extend the ongoing registration beyond the Huduma Centers.
Speaking to Kenyans.co.ke on Wednesday, March 30, Boda Boda Safety Association of Kenya National Chairman Kevin Mubadi noted that riders in some counties were disadvantaged.
He noted that they lived as far as 100 kilometers away from Huduma Centers, which are scattered across the country, and given the huge numbers being witnessed, they would waste days queuing.
Mubadi, therefore, appealed to the Ministry of Interior to dispatch staffers into the villages to register as many riders as possible, leaving no one behind.
He further explained that the staffers would be stationed at the District Commissioners and Divisional Commissioners to facilitate the registration exercise.
"We also support that (the distribution of Huduma staffers) because when you look at the some counties, the Huduma Center is 100 kilometers away. So you find that the guy cannot ride a motorbike from one end to the other and when you arrive, you find a line and you are forced to queue till evening. You are forced to return the next day unsure of getting help.
" We can operate at the offices of the District Commissioners and Divisional Commissioners. It will be easier for many people to access the services just the way they did for Huduma Namba registration," stated Mubadi.
He also disclosed that the initial rollout was aimed at tracking whether the operators would actually show up for registration.
The first week of the exercise has seen riders turn up at Huduma Centres in droves following a warning by the government to those who would defy the directive.
"When we rolled it out, we started with the Huduma Centers to see how the programme runs out but now we are seeing that they are genuine and honest and they just want to be identified.
"There are enough kits for this job. We just request the government to devolve these kits to go to the County Commissioners offices," he added.
President Uhuru Kenyatta had ordered that the boda bodas should be registered afresh and retrained.
Speaking three weeks after ordering a nationwide crackdown on the sector, the President directed the Ministry of Transport under Cabinet Secretary, James Macharia, to fast-track the training.
