Boda boda riders staged massive demonstrations in various towns across the country Thursday to protest the ongoing police crackdown targeting them.
In Nairobi, the riders blocked a section of the Thika Superhighway at Githurai where they engaged police in running battles.
“We are being targetted unfairly,” one rider said, “we have nothing to do with the sexual assault incident that occurred on Forest Road.”
Police have been arresting riders and impounding their motorcycles since Tuesday following a sexual assault of a female motorist on Forest Road on Monday.
Similar protests were reported in Kiambu and Kerugoya among other areas.
Even though the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) said it had identified the real perpetrators of the assault, police have continued to arrest riders after President Uhuru Kenyatta’s order.
“We have lost business for the whole week because of this crackdown, how will we feed our families,” another rider posed.
Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiangi and Inspector General of Police Hilary Mutyambai on Wednesday convened a meeting of the representatives of the riders association where he announced the government’s reform agenda on the sector.
The riders were given 60 days to join registered SACCOs, with charges for NTSA license fees waived.
