Difference between revisions of "Boda-boda (Uganda)"

The uncontrolled growth of this sector and the failure to formalise, regulate or tax it over successive decades contrasts strongly with neighbouring Rwanda, where the same phenomenon (known as taxi-moto) was brought under tight regulatory control from 2007, with strict limits on numbers and the introduction of numerous taxes (Rollason 2013<ref>Rollason, W. 2013. Performance, poverty and urban development: Kigali’s motari and the spectacle city, in Afrika Focus 26.2: 9-29.</ref>; Goodfellow 2015<ref>Goodfellow, T. 2015. Taming the ‘Rogue’ Sector: Studying State Effectiveness in Africa through Informal Transport Politics, Comparative Politics 47(2): 127-147. Howe, J., & Davis, A. 2002. Boda Boda – Uganda’s rural and urban low-capacity transport services, in Godard, X. and Fatonzoun, I. (eds.), Urban Mobility for All, Lisse: AA Balkema Publishers: 235-240.</ref>). In Uganda, boda-boda drivers are now such a substantial component of the urban population that they have come to represent a broader socioeconomic category, sometimes referred to as the ‘boda-boda class’, which implies an uneducated, roguish urban underclass with particular political leanings. In reality, this is not always an accurate characterisation, as many boda-boda drivers are actually highly educated – some even have university degrees – and engage in this practice simply because it is the best option available to them.

The uncontrolled growth of this sector and the failure to formalise, regulate or tax it over successive decades contrasts strongly with neighbouring Rwanda, where the same phenomenon (known as taxi-moto) was brought under tight regulatory control from 2007, with strict limits on numbers and the introduction of numerous taxes (Rollason 2013<ref>Rollason, W. 2013. Performance, poverty and urban development: Kigali’s motari and the spectacle city, in Afrika Focus 26.2: 9-29.</ref>; Goodfellow 2015<ref>Goodfellow, T. 2015. Taming the ‘Rogue’ Sector: Studying State Effectiveness in Africa through Informal Transport Politics, Comparative Politics 47(2): 127-147. Howe, J., & Davis, A. 2002. Boda Boda – Uganda’s rural and urban low-capacity transport services, in Godard, X. and Fatonzoun, I. (eds.), Urban Mobility for All, Lisse: AA Balkema Publishers: 235-240.</ref>). In Uganda, boda-boda drivers are now such a substantial component of the urban population that they have come to represent a broader socioeconomic category, sometimes referred to as the ‘boda-boda class’, which implies an uneducated, roguish urban underclass with particular political leanings. In reality, this is not always an accurate characterisation, as many boda-boda drivers are actually highly educated – some even have university degrees – and engage in this practice simply because it is the best option available to them.