The Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS) has now moved to end the confusion by setting new operating rules for boda boda riders within the Central Business District (CBD).
According to the guidelines, riders will be compelled to ply fixed designated routes. Just like Public Service Vehicles (PSV), boda boda riders will be restricted from ferrying passengers to random routes in the city.
NMS Director of Roads, Transport and Public Works Engineer Michael Ochieng, stated that the routes will be determined in collaboration with City Inspectorate and the operators.
They will be required to register with approved Saccos to be assigned routes under the new rules.
The first Sacco, Eminent Boda Transcoop, has already been launched, allowing members to register.
They will have allocated parking spaces at the newly constructed Greenpark Terminal. At the moment, boda boda operators have different parking spaces within the city, which NMS has not legally allocated.
Riders will also be required to have physical offices with Saccos expected to ensure that members adhere to set guidelines.
Besides the new rules, NMS disclosed that they are working with operators to provide last-mile transport to Kenyans accessing CBD after alighting from the Greenpark terminal.
This new memorandum will also enable NMS to implement the Matatu CBD ban, which has proved to be a headache to Mohamed Badi's administration.
"After signing the memorandum, I urge you to follow it so that we can all operate in an orderly manner," Ochieng urged operators.
Before introducing the new rules, boda boda operators were completely banned from accessing the CBD. Those found flouting the bylaws were slapped with fines, with city enforcement officers seizing motorbikes in some instances.
On the other hand, Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang'i instructed all operators to register with National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA).
The new licenses for boda boda operators have been linked to the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF), National Social Security Fund (NSSF) and the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) for effective service delivery.
"The license already has the details of the rider, but right now, under NTSA, the new smart license has a lot of information, unlike the previous one and it is also digital. All these is just for easy tracing of the people.
"The smart license will have the name of the SACCO where the rider operates from. For you to get the licenses, you must be registered in a SACCO and the SACCO will be registered under the association so that it becomes a piece of digital information. Once you get the information, you go to NTSA for the license," the authority explained.
