As conversation around the ugly side continue to take center stage, the Director of Criminal Investigations has made another revelation that should make everyone very afraid of the danger that is posed by the riders.
According to Kinoti, the DCI is narrowing on a Nairobi drug cartel who owns more than 250 motorbikes in the city.
Kinoti, revealed other criminal activities that Boda bodas are involved in across the country.
“If you go to the borders, they are used for surveillance by criminals, sneaking in arms and for getaways. In urban areas they are used in trafficking drugs and contraband. They are a danger at large,” said Mr Kinoti.
Once described, as a game changer in the transport sector, owing to the ability to maneuverer around heavy traffic jams and flexibility, the boda boda sector is now being rated as number three on threats to national security.
According to the police, boda bodas are now involved in every form of crime in the country, ranging from drug, arms and human trafficking, robbery with violence, murder and traffic offences.
“They use the riders to deliver the drugs to the comfort of the consumers. It is a disaster,” said another senior security official.
On Sunday morning, police gunned down three gangsters in Nairobi’s Dandora Slums. The thugs had earlier on hijacked a boda boda rider with his female passenger in Lucky Summer Estate. They gang raped the woman before stealing valuables from them.
Unknown to them, the motorbike had a tracking device which helped detectives trace the gang. This is just one example of the danger that both passenger and rider face on the roads.
Apart from drugs, the riders have also been major contributors to accidents in the country. Police say they have taken over major towns— blocking roads to all other traffic, dislodging pedestrians from footpaths and generally creating a racket with their loud hooting.
A recent case is the accident involving Migori Woman Rep Pamela Odhiambo which left her bodyguard dead and the lawmaker looking at the possibility of spending the rest of her life on a wheelchair.
According to reports, the accident happened after the driver swayed, trying to avoid hitting a motorbike.
The government has advised a crackdown on boda boda riders in major towns, accusing them of thriving in lawlessness and resisting all attempts to tame them.
But it is not yet clear how they’re going to solve this.