Boda Boda riders under their association the National Federation of Professional Cyclists Association (NFPC) have dragged the government of Uganda to court for stopping them from carrying passengers as one of the preventive measures of COVId-19.
In their application the boda boda operators allege that Government’s failure to allow them carry passengers while other transport means are ferrying people is unacceptable in a free and democratic society.
These say that this act is an infringement on their right to equality and freedom from discrimination contrary to Article 21(2) and 43 (2) of the 1995 Constitution.
In an affidavit sworn Kagaba Fred, one of the applicants, he says that boda bodas don’t have higher chances of spreading Covid-19 than other means like buses and private cars which carry more than one passenger.
“Boda boda people have lost and continue losing their source of livelihood and their dependants.”
He went ahead and pointed out that hours of 7pm it’s the period with in which they have been getting more customers and earning a reasonable pay.
They now seek court to order government to allow people in the boda boda industry to carry passengers and cargo as their colleagues in other means of transport.
“In alternative to the above, we seek an order directing the government to make provision concessions and arrangements for the welfare and well being of people engaged in boda boda business during the lockdown.”
They have further asked court to declare that Government’s action of ordering Boda boda riders not to carry passengers without any arrangement put in place to cater for their welfare is contrary to Article 99 (3) of the 1995 constitution.
In his directives to curb the spread of COVID-19 pandemic in the country, President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni ordered Boda Bodas (Motor cycles) and bicycles to only carry cargo until the situation normalizes.