Like hungry hyenas waiting to prey on an antelope, Police officers form up during the prime hours of traffic jam in busy areas to catch the unwilling kill (Boda Boda) which by all means will dodge through the busy streets to elude sharp claws of the predator.
As government top planners continue to swindle billions of moneys without solving basic things like effective public transport systems and constructing good road and train networks to solve traffic jam, Boda Bodas are a necessary evil.
The question of increased accidents in motorists recently hit a peek and you could see government and parliamentarians gambling on the issue by entirely putting the lager blame on motorists. From a very angry point of view, why is it not the government vehicles with lead cars involved in accidents with their worst driving habits as they forcefully seek the right of way through traffic jam.
Solutions to our chaotic city are not limited by resources, they are limited by selfish and short-sighted parliamentarians who sit on different committees not for the good of Uganda but for the good of their stomachs. With all the incentives parliamentarians enjoy, it beats my understanding why they can’t create lasting solutions. People are still building in road reserves; potholes are still repaired with loom soil which from my primary education is for planting crops on. It seems to me that most government officials are hypocrites and don’t serve its interest but let me stop the ranting and get back to the simplest dangerous things that we all look on as they happen and keep our mouth shut. Things that contribute to our short life span index as Ugandans.
“To keep Law and Order! “That’s what my nephew who is attending his P.1 from Kitante Primary School responded to me when I got home and rhetorically asked him the job of Police. I had witnessed three separate cat and mouse like games between Police and Boda Boda riders, unfortunately all of them had passengers as causalities. One in Kyaliwajjala on Kireka road as you head towards Agenda, as a police officer tried to forcefully apprehend a Boda Boda rider, he pushed the motorist to the trench and unfortunately the passenger got a deep cut on the right leg when they fell. Out of shame the Police officer just hurled some insults at them and let them go. In my senses, I kept wondering why the beautiful lady’s day had to turn up like that and who was going to pay her medical bill. Perhaps the boyfriend, since the government is still dreaming about National Medical Insurance for all citizens -simple things to do but unwilling leaders just!
It is until one experiences this Police- Boda Boda hide and seek that you can tell how risky it is to human lives. Along Yusuf Lule – Golf Course Traffic Lights is another injury or death trap for Boda Boda Passengers. This time it was a Thursday evening on a cold day, with crowded cars all waiting on the traffic officers to let them cross. I was the passenger enjoying the comfort of smoothly maneuvering through the chaos and out of the blue, a police officer tried to grab the rider who like an antelope engaged a new gear and made a narrow escape utilizing a slim space between a land cruiser and a pick up whose guard almost crushed us. I held my breath as all that happened and took a deep one after surviving with my heart pounding and heavy. I still don’t know how we survived being grinded by the pickup that badly wanted to cross the green lights.
“To keep Law and order” the voice of my Nephew sounded in my head. I wondered why the Police only focuses on ‘Law’ and forgets about ‘Order’ to the extent of risking lives dangerously.
Yes the Boda Boda riders must fulfill their requirements to be on the road but two wrong don’t make a right! Police must devise means of apprehending Boda Boda riders especially those who are loaded or carrying passengers without endangering peoples lives. For Gods sake, these are human beings not grasshoppers. Even for grasshoppers, people devised means, they trap them with light. Some riders be carrying tourists who are used to efficient public transport where they come from. Police can’t keep embarrassing Uganda.
But why risk lives of people to the scope of endangering life and yet the public secret is that most of the arrested riders are extorted and let go and only those who don’t accept to pay the bribe are forwarded to court or have their bikes impounded.
