Boda-bodas, the country's ubiquitous motorbike taxis,snake through gridlocked traffic, navigate potholed roads and provide much-needed employment for young people. They are also maiming and killing thousands every year, monopolising hospital budgets and wiping out livelihoods
.Since they appeared on the streets of Uganda in the 1960s, the number of boda-bodas has swelled. One recent news report estimated there were more than 300,000 bikes operating in the capital, Kampala.
At this rate, the boda boda business could be the second largest employer of Ugandans, at least according to Standard Bank reports.The 2013 report authored by Standard Bank analyst Simon Freemantle and economist Jeremy Stevens measured motorcycle exports from India to seven African countries including Nigeria, Angola, Uganda Egypt, Kenya, Guinea and Djibouti.
The findings indicate Nigeria is the largest importer of motor cycles from India followed by Angola with Uganda coming in at third position.
WHY THEY ARE MEN OF STEEL
However tight the traffic is, those guys manage to find their way through. "Me I kick those cars to alert the owners that I need way" one of the riders said. Many cases are at police for boda-man against car owner.
In case your in a hurry the boda guys can help you be on time. They enjoy driving so fast and don't care about the consequences of over speeding.
They are good masters of hustle. A boda guy comes on stage at 5am and leaves for home at 12am midnight. In Kampala it's hard to find someone working 24hrs apart from the boda-men.
They call themselves soldiers "majje" because they are ever the leaders of riots in Kampala. Most of the riots are fuelled by those guys and the police always condemns their actions. They fear no teargas and they even fight back when police fights them.
Most of them are drug addicts claiming that it brings courage to manage the heavy wind when driving. They have red eyes and it's rare to find a boda-man who is brown in colour.
In summary we appreciate their work done towards easing the transport system in Uganda and we also condemn the bad acts in them.
By kato shakilu
.Since they appeared on the streets of Uganda in the 1960s, the number of boda-bodas has swelled. One recent news report estimated there were more than 300,000 bikes operating in the capital, Kampala.
At this rate, the boda boda business could be the second largest employer of Ugandans, at least according to Standard Bank reports.The 2013 report authored by Standard Bank analyst Simon Freemantle and economist Jeremy Stevens measured motorcycle exports from India to seven African countries including Nigeria, Angola, Uganda Egypt, Kenya, Guinea and Djibouti.
The findings indicate Nigeria is the largest importer of motor cycles from India followed by Angola with Uganda coming in at third position.
WHY THEY ARE MEN OF STEEL
However tight the traffic is, those guys manage to find their way through. "Me I kick those cars to alert the owners that I need way" one of the riders said. Many cases are at police for boda-man against car owner.
In case your in a hurry the boda guys can help you be on time. They enjoy driving so fast and don't care about the consequences of over speeding.
They are good masters of hustle. A boda guy comes on stage at 5am and leaves for home at 12am midnight. In Kampala it's hard to find someone working 24hrs apart from the boda-men.
They call themselves soldiers "majje" because they are ever the leaders of riots in Kampala. Most of the riots are fuelled by those guys and the police always condemns their actions. They fear no teargas and they even fight back when police fights them.
Most of them are drug addicts claiming that it brings courage to manage the heavy wind when driving. They have red eyes and it's rare to find a boda-man who is brown in colour.
In summary we appreciate their work done towards easing the transport system in Uganda and we also condemn the bad acts in them.
By kato shakilu
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