Safeboda ride hailing application co-founder, Ricky Rapa Thomson has expressed concerns over the continued curfew on the boda boda community.
Rapa said that the Covid-19 pandemic and crime should not be used as a tool to fight boda bodas since both are not only limited to their community.
Rapa made these remarks while appearing on a local TV show, on Tuesday morning.
“Blocking the boda boda sector because of the bits of crime manifesting is harsh treatment, crime doesn't only happen on Boda boda or only after 7pm,” Rapa said.
The Safeboda boss added that, “Crime has been existent even before the boda bodas were introduced and it continues to exist.”
In his address on December 31, 2021, President Museveni fully reopened the economy, starting with schools on January 10, 2022 and all sectors of the economy two weeks after that date.
The president however said that boda boda’s will have to wait longer, “because their situation is different.” Museveni maintained that boda boda’s will continue observing the 5am to 7pm curfew time.
Rapa said that they are aware of the pandemic but this should not be turned into a tool to fight this sector.
The former boda boda rider turned entrepreneur said that the boda boda industry supports many people and leaving it under lockdown will have effects on the economy.
“Boda boda stands to be the second leading employer of the young people and it contributes to more than 15 percent of Uganda's GDP, this is a significant contribution,” Rapa said.
Rapa said that the boda boda industry absorbs a lot of young people who would otherwise go unemployed and the continued curfew on their work is affecting their finances.
Rapa said that boda boda’s have also been a vital part in helping government efforts of sensitising the public against the Covid-19 pandemic.
He said that continued curfew is unfair and called for review of this directive.
Though cheap, and one of the easiest way to get around the city, it is feared that boda boda’s, especially at night, pose security risk as they have been used to carry out crime in the past.