A Ugandan boda boda rider has announced his intention to run for president in the coming 2026 general elections.
Francis Mawejje, 30,shocked many including his fellow colleagues when he told journalists on the morning of April 14, 2025, in Lungujja, a suburb of Kampala that he will usher in a new era for the country, once elected as president.
According to him, 80% of the economy is a “Boda-Boda Economy” which involves the hand-to-mouth existence many Ugandans face requiring reforms centered on economic justice, social equity, and systemic change.
Among these, he promised to tackle the problem of unemployment, improving health and education sector, rationalization of government agencies and departments.
“I want to ensure a mandatory insurance policy to all boda boda riders, improve emergency services in terms of ambulances and equip hospitals with all the necessary drugs but also improve the salary for doctors,” Mawejje said.
“The boda boda economy we live in means that we don’t have any form of insurance but also we can’t save since we earn little or nothing,” he added.
According to Mawejje, constitutional reforms will be put in place to allow diaspora and inmates to vote as well as tackling corruption and mismanagement of government resources.
However, on behalf of the Uganda Boda Boda Association, he criticized the National Resistance Movement’s (NRM) four-decade rule, stating it has led to widespread economic hardship.
Mawejje, who is reportedly holding a degree in internal relations diplomacy from Cavendish University where he failed to get a job and resorted to the boda boda business is positioning himself as a candidate representing the common citizen, leveraging the significant role boda boda riders play in Uganda’s transport and political mobilization.
