Commercial motorcycles commonly known as boda bodas will be branded in prescribed colours and taken for regular inspections in a fresh bid to regulate the sector.
In addition, boda bodas will be required to display their registration number plates both at the back and in the front, similar to motor vehicles.
These are among the raft of amendments proposed by the Senate Roads and Transportation Committee to the Public Transportation (Motorcycle Regulations) Bill, 2023.
The Bill, sponsored by Kakamega Senator Boni Khalwale, seeks to streamline the sector and rein in rogue riders.
“The principal objective of this Bill is to put in place a legal framework to regulate the use of motorcycle (boda boda) and three-wheelers (tuk-tuks) in Kenya, by introducing new provisions for their registration, operation and safety at the county level,” the Bill states.
In the report by the committee, the lawmakers want the National Transport and Safety Authority and the Ministry of Transport to review the Traffic (Registration Plates) Rules, to ensure that number plates on motorcycles are also placed in the front.
The owners of old motorcycles are to be given three years to comply while every new motorcycle should have the number placed on the front.
The committee observed that motorcycles used for public use should be inspected and registered in the county as Public Service Vehicles.
“That an amendment be made to ensure that the motorcycles that are utilised for public use are inspected and registered as PSVs,” the panel said in its report tabled by chaiman Karungo Thang’wa.
Further, the committee wants the owner of the motorcycles used for commercial purposes to have their motorcycles branded with a colour band prescribed by the county executive committee member or transport.
This, the panel observed, will enable the law enforcers—police officers— to promptly distinguish between PSV motorcycles, which fall under the ambit of this legislative framework, and private motorcycles which do not.
The committee wants the Bill enhanced to introduce a new clause to empower counties to develop county-specific legislation.
According to the latest NTSA statistics, boda bodas accounted for the highest number of deaths on the roads.
In the last three months of the year— between October and December—passengers, pedestrians, motorcycle riders and their pillion riders bore the brunt of road accidents culminating in nearly 800 lost lives compared to 450 drivers and riders.
About 2.5 million boda bodas are registered in the country, of which 1.8 million are active.
The Bill, currently in the Senate, proposes strict regulations for boda operators, including mandatory training for riders and potential license revocations for criminal activity.
The proposed law also provides for a requirement for riders to be members of a registered cooperative society, aiming to better control the sector and address safety concerns.
“A person shall not operate a motorcycle unless they have successfully completed a training course approved by the board,” it states.
It provides that a person who
owns or operates a motorcycle for
commercial purposes shall register
with a Savings and Cooperative Societies recognised under the Cooperative Societies Act.
