Boda boda swoop:More to it than just helmets and licences

Boda bodas are pherhaps the most convinient medium of transport inUganda that they could not evade the conscience of legendary croonerElly Wamala. If you are not a chauffer driven politician or socialiteyou cannot evade their services unless your work is not conviniencedby Kampala’s traffic chaos. They have attained political significancestarting with candidate Yoweri Museveni’s 2001 campaign trail where hearrived at his campaign launch at Kololo aboard a boda boda much tothe surprise of many who considered the man fit for another term ongrounds of his ‘simple character’ exhibitedby associating with themost down trodden, the cyclists. Then like the president’s cowboy hat,stammering and gesturing, the boda boda was adopted as an officialelectioneering strategy with many politicias in this country fightingfor paparazzi shots aboard boda bodas. I have a newspaper cutting ofone minister who defied his ernomous size to jump on a boda boda forthe sake of being seen to associate with the “electorate” Everywhereboda boda cyclists became increasingly influential in politics and allother popular activities that involve mass mobilisation. When SeyaSsebagala returned, they lined the streets from entebbe to Kampala,when Gaetano Kaggwa exited the Big brother house after representingthe pearl of africa in that event, a heroes welcome awaited him andthe boda bodas were readily available to add colour to the occasionthat citizen number one was alarmed as to ask “Who is Gaetano” in aBig Headline in the national paper. He was to later know him asanother socialite but not as a homecoming exilee that he invited himto his ranch. Boda boda cyclists became empowered by the governmentthat they were soon on collision with Ssebaana’s KCC. Loans were givento youths to acquire Cycles after the elections and boda boda cyclistsincreasingly became associated with the president through RDC’s. Likestreet hawkers and market vendors,boda boda cyclists side-stepeedinstitutions like KCC to reason that their problems could only beunderstood by the president of Uganda.Everywhere on campaign trailsthey were assured of ‘per diem’ and free fuel at stations owned bymembers of the regime. With the return of Dr. Besigye and the increasein opposition against the NRM, Mr. Museveni’s role as patron of thedown-trodden shifted to Mengo and other political forces whereindividuals like Nambooze and Betty Kamya made them aware that whilethey could benefit from election loans for survival, there was lifebeyond politics. Nambooze’s Central Civic Committee comprises mainlyof Boda boda cyclits and market vendors as on –ground volunteers.Support for Kamya’s Uganda Federal Alliance has mainly come from thedown-trodden previously identified as Mr. Museveni’s soft spots. Inthe past there have been attempts to force cyclists to wear helmetsand observe road regulations but this has been resisted with supportfrom RDC’s who have instead suggested that KCC sits with lawbreakersto solve the situation. The climax of the fallout with Mr. Museveni(not NRM) has been the recent Buganda riots with their percieved rolein mobilising support in the town centers and surburbs. Because oftheir mobilisational role in hyping campaing trails and abettingdemonstrations by whisking off demonstrators, they remain to be sen asan important force in the election planning that they featureprominently in what has been consistently called ‘logistics’ so muchso that even in a University election, the candidate has to mobiliseresources for the “entourage”.My concern is that while they offertheir services at election campaigns, the posturing politicians ofthis world are quiet while an estimated 1000 cycles have beenimpounded for engaging in ‘lawless activities’ read expressing theirviews over the blocking of the Kabaka to Bugerere. Where isMuseveni’s simple character of 2001? Something said about the grasssuffering in a battle of elephants.