Over 53,000 motorcycles have been registered by Kampala Capital City Authority—KCCA in the just concluded Boda Boda registration exercise.
The exercise that started on October 4th had met stiff resistance in its initial stages with the cyclists threatening to lynch the KCCA officials. However, after several consultations and meetings, the exercise went on smoothly until the deadline day on October 31.
Several boda bodas had requested for the postponement of the exercise, claiming that many people had not registered by the closure of the exercise. However, their pleas were rejected by the KCCA officials who now say they are proceeding to the next stage.
Peter Kaujju, the KCCA Supervisor of Communications and Media Relations, says the whole exercise has been a success. Kaujju says after sensitizing the groups that had initially opposed the exercise, they embraced it and helped the Authority in the smooth registration process. He says KCCA has now started sorting out the data before starting to reorganise the stages for the groups. He says after that, anyone who operates illegally without registration will be prosecuted.
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Kaujju says after marking the stages, they will issue out numbers to all registered members after which distribution of reflector jackets and helmets will commence. He says this will help in decongesting the city and reducing the rate of accidents.
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Charles Tabu, a cyclist who beat the deadline to register on the last day, says he is the happiest. He says he got worried when he was turned away at the first attempt because he never came with the identity card. Tabu however says after presenting all the documents, he was finally registered.
Abdullah Kitatta, the chairperson of 2010 Boda Boda group that had initially opposed the registration exercise could not be reached for comment. Attempts to get clarification from him on how the members of his group who might have missed registration will respond were unsuccessful as he failed to pick our repeated calls.