President William Ruto will on Monday preside over the launch of capacity building and empowerment programme for boda boda riders and one-year free medical cover.
The event which will take place at KICC will be done in collaboration with the National Health Insurance Fund, the Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of Health, the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA), Kenya Roads Board and St Johns Ambulance.
Dubbed 'Boda Boda Care', the programme targets 200,000 riders who have adhered to NTSA regulations and will be trained as first responders by St. Johns Ambulance.
The empowerment and capacity-building programme follows the government's Boda Boda reforms in 2022.
The aim is to ensure that boda boda riders across the country adhere to the laws and regulations stipulated by NTSA.
It also aims to recruit boda boda riders to get NHIF medical cover as the country moves to achieve Universal Health Coverage (UHC) as well as train the riders as first responders in the event of an accident.
A report released last year and handed to the interior ministry on the business showed up to 60 per cent of the 2.4 million riders in the country are not insured.
More than 70 per cent of them are not trained on how to ride motorcycles apart from the brief sessions they receive in estates and homes.
The sector has witnessed several crackdowns on boda boda riders accused of committing crimes in urban areas.
There have been concerns about increased attacks and robberies by people on motorcycles in many parts of the country.
