Boda Boda riders in Kangema are embroiled in a bitter fight over a Ksh2.8 million donation made by Deputy President William Ruto during his visit to the Mt Kenya region last week.
This was the second incident in the past month and came only days after an equally contentious donation made to riders in Kitengela town, Kajiado County.
The Kangema boda boda operators lamented that the money had been banked on accounts of freshly appointed officials but was not shared with the bonafide members.
They further decried that they did not recognise the officials who had received the donation.
"We are yet to receive the money a week after it was donated and we do not know the officials who were told to sub-divide the money between us," a boda boda rider Richard Ruua stated.
Led by their leader Kevin Mwangi Kanyi, the riders stated that the donated money should be divided equally to all the members, failure to which the DP should go back to the constituency and take back the money.
"The donation has started causing a rift among us. It is not the Deputy President who is at fault but those who received the money," Mwangi stated.
Kiharu MP Ndindi Nyoro has since indicated that he is involving all boda boda leaders in Kangema in prudently investing the amount contributed by the DP and other guests.
"We came up with several scenarios and options while incorporating the opinions of all operators. We shall be communicating those options to all members so as to have a viable longterm investment," Ndindi stated on his social media pages.
In the Kitengela incident, 7,512 registered Boda Boda operators claimed to have been shortchanged by the leaders who represented them.
They claimed that the Ksh750,000 donation made by Ruto was shared out among a few riders, money which was to help them start an income-generating project.
"There was no meeting and consultation about sharing the money and only a committee comprising five members made a decision on behalf of us and divided the money among a few individuals,” a rider, Eric Onyango explained.
