Ruto grants amnesty to boda boda riders, orders release of 9,000 bikes
President William Ruto on Thursday ordered the immediate release of over 9,000 motorcycles impounded by police but not tied to any criminal investigations in what is seen as handing a political olive branch to the country’s expansive boda boda sector.
The move follows a closed-door meeting between President Ruto and boda boda officials drawn from across the country at State House on Thursday.
“Boda boda operators are legitimate entrepreneurs whose businesses must be supported,” President Ruto said. “We will work with all stakeholders to enact a law that embraces self-regulation to help spur the sector’s growth.”
The Head of State directed the Ministry of Interior and the Inspector-General of Police to oversee the release of the motorcycles within seven days, effectively granting amnesty to thousands of operators whose bikes have been held at police stations across the country, many for months or years without prosecution.
He has also pledged to push for the removal of taxes on motorcycles in a move he says will significantly lower their cost and make them more accessible to ordinary Kenyans. During the meeting, the President said he would take the matter to Parliament with the aim of reducing the price of a motorcycle from Sh190,000 to Sh95,000.
“I will go to Parliament to get rid of taxes, and that will reduce the cost of motorbikes,” Ruto said. “I want ordinary people to be able to buy motorbikes. The motorbike will no longer be Sh190,000, it will be Sh95,000. That is half.”
The proposed tax cuts, according to the President, would also ease the financial burden on buyers by significantly lowering the required deposit and daily repayments.
“The deposit will not be Sh70,000, it will be Sh9,500,” he said. “The payments per day will not be Sh500 but Sh180.”
Ruto said the move is part of his administration’s broader plan to support small-scale entrepreneurs and ease the cost of doing business for boda boda operators.
There is no formal count which has been released by the National Police Service on the number of impounded motorcycles. Most of them are seized over documentation issues, minor traffic violations, or vague suspicion without follow-through in court.
President Ruto has made the boda sector the cornerstone of his campaigns. In March 2022, then-Deputy President William Ruto stood on the campaign trail and declared war on what he called the “harassment” of boda boda riders.
Speaking in Nairobi, he accused the former government which was led by President Uhuru Kenyatta of levying illegal fines and impounding motorcycles without due process.
“I urge riders to walk to the police stations and take their motorbikes… They were fined illegally and their money should be returned,” President Ruto said at the time.
According to the Boda Boda Safety Association of Kenya, the boda boda sector has employed more than 1.2 million youths in Kenya and is involved in the movement of millions daily in informal transactions.
It has become both a crucial cog in the urban economy and a volatile political force.
Riders have been at the heart of both electoral campaigns and street-level unrest, making them an unpredictable but indispensable voting bloc.
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