What is a Boda-Boda?

What is a “Boda-Boda?”

A Boda-Boda is a person who gives passengers rides, or delivers goods on his bicycle or motorbike. He is essentially a two wheeled taxi driver. The name may come from the word “border,” as they may take your across a border. Or it may come from the puttering sound of a motorbike. Either way, the Bodas are a prominent form of public transportation in East Africa. They are everywhere, hanging out on street corners, under the shade of trees, sitting on their most valuable possession and their primary source of income.

The most common vehicle country-wide is the Hero bicycle. Boda-Bodas start out with a bicycle and deliver passengers or goods for a small fee. A short in-town ride might be 200 to 300 Ush. Bicycle Bodas carry passengers more frequently in the rural areas and small towns. They attach a vinyl-padded cushion on the rear rack and bring children to school or business people to their office. In Kampala, the bicycles are more likely to be beasts of burden, acting more like a two-wheeled wheelbarrow for loads of goods. Matoke, firewood, 50 kg sacks of sugar or rice, full-size bed frames, jerry cans of water, and whatever else you can imagine. I saw one bike with 6 sacks of sugar of 50 kg each, that’s 300 kg! With these loads, the bike is pushed, not ridden.

The next upgrade for a Boda-Boda from the Hero bicycle is a small motorbike. It seems that the most common motorbike used in Uganda is a 50cc Yamaha motorbike (scooter as we call them stateside). According to the Bodas, it gets the best gas efficiency and is a fairly reliable machine. They can be bought used at about 2.2 million Uganda shillings. Almost all vehicles are purchased used from China or Japan. It seems that all of the vans, cars, buses, and motorbikes have had a former life in Asia of at least 3 or more years. You see evidence not only on the wear and tear of the vehicles, but also on the Japanese characters painted on the sides, hastily painted over with brushed white paint. Only the extremely rich can afford a brand new vehicle. In Uganda, that means the government ministers or Indian business owners, who are driven around in black Mercedes past crowds of people with sole-less shoes.

And by the way, if you earn over $20,000 US/ year, that puts you among the richest 12 percent of the world.