VOA新闻杂志2024--Uganda's Motorcycle Taxis Resist Safety Rules

For tens of thousands of men in Uganda's capital, driving a motorcycle taxi is a way to make a living. For others, the vehicles known as boda-bodas are a necessary but dangerous form of transportation in a disorderly city.

The young men sit on motorcycles in the morning heat. When they see someone who might be a passenger, they start their machines and compete to offer the person a ride.

The motorcycle taxis are everywhere in East African capitals like Nairobi and Kigali. But in Kampala, the numbers are huge. The city of 3 million people has no mass transportation system and a high rate of unemployment. There are around 350,000 boda-bodas. The men driving them come from all parts of Uganda. They say there are no other jobs for them.

Nothing to do

"We just do this one because we have nothing to do," said one driver, Zubairi Idi Nyakuni. "All of us here...they have their degrees, they have their master's (degrees), but they are just here. They have nothing to do."

The city has tried to control them and remove them from the central business area. But it is not easy. The government fears what might happen if they anger a large group of jobless men.

Charles Mpagi is a spokesperson for Tugende, a company based in Kampala that finances¹ boda-boda purchases. He said, "You have quite a large number of people that are young, who can't find jobs...and they do not have significant alternative income to get into other enterprises³."

About 76 percent of Uganda's 43 million people are under 35, according to government figures. There are few jobs for them. The central bank reports that just one percent of Ugandan workers make $270 or more in monthly pay.

Uganda's unemployment rate for people between 18 and 30 was 17 percent in 2021 - higher than for other age groups. For young people in urban areas, it was 19 percent.

President Yoweri Museveni has held power since 1986. He has long welcomed the support of boda-boda men, who create a loud presence at his political rallies⁴. Museveni has gifted boda-bodas to supporters and is reducing the three-year licensing⁵ fee from nearly $100 to about $35.

'Border, border!'

Motorcycles first appeared on the Uganda-Kenya border during political instability in the 1970s. The term "boda-boda" comes from the way drivers used to shout "border, border" at possible customers.

At the time, they were also a way to transport smugglers and their merchandise⁷. Today, they are everywhere in Uganda, taking children to school, people to offices, the sick to clinics and even the dead to their burials.

Each year, police reports say that motorcycle taxis help carry out violent crime. The Ministry⁸ of Works and Transport also reports that the number of deadly accidents related to motorcycles across Uganda grew from 621 in 2014 to 1,404 in 2021.

Road safety regulations for motorcycles were first approved in 2004. But traffic police are often unable to make arrests for motorcyclists breaking the law. They fear fights because drivers quickly come to support one another.

Many boda-boda men pay the owner of their vehicle every month. Failure to pay means the boda-boda driver loses his job along with the motorcycle.

Innocent Awita, a boda-boda man who left school in 2008, said there was "too much pressure" to keep his motorcycle. He pays $4 a day and pays for fuel and repairs. Some days are better than others, but Awita said he sometimes goes without enough earnings⁹ to make the daily payment.

"I can work for three days without getting anything. But if I get something the next day, that can save my life," he said.

Words in This Story

taxi -n. a vehicle whose driver you pay for transportation service

alternative - adj. offering or expressing a choice

enterprise² - n. a business organization

customer -n. a person or group who buys goods or services

smuggle⁶ - v. to move (someone or something) from one country into another illegally and secretly

merchandise -n. goods that are for sale to the public

clinic -n. a small health center that treats minor or simple health problems

1 finances   

n.(pl.)财源，资产

参考例句：

• I need a professional to sort out my finances. 我需要专业人士为我管理财务。
• The company's finances are looking a bIt'shaky. 这个公司的财政情况看来有点不稳定。

2 enterprise   

n.企业单位，商业公司，事业，计划

参考例句：

• They are determined to carry forward the enterprise.他们决心把事业进行下去。
• The enterprise has excellent prospects.这家企业的远景极其美好。

3 enterprises   

事业( enterprise的名词复数 )； 事业心； 企[事]业单位； 企业发展

参考例句：

• In capitalist society,big enterprises always try to freeze out the smaller ones. 在资本主义社会，大企业总是千方百计地排挤小企业。
• Big transcontinental enterprises jostle with one another for world markets. 巨大的跨国公司[企业]互相争夺国际市场。

4 rallies   

集会( rally的名词复数 )； [网球、羽毛球]连续对打； 公路汽车赛； （精神等方面）振作

参考例句：

• He attended two rallies last year. 去年他参加了两场汽车拉力赛。
• If the whole family rallies round, we can get Jim out of debt. 如果全家都来帮助吉姆，就能帮他把债还清。

5 licensing   

v.批准，许可，颁发执照( license的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• A large part of state regulation consists of occupational licensing. 大部分州的管理涉及行业的特许批准。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法
• That licensing procedures for projects would move faster. 这样的工程批准程序一定会加快。 来自辞典例句

6 smuggle   

vt.私运；vi.走私

参考例句：

• Friends managed to smuggle him secretly out of the country.朋友们想方设法将他秘密送出国了。
• She has managed to smuggle out the antiques without getting caught.她成功将古董走私出境，没有被逮捕。

7 merchandise   

n.商品，货物；v.经营，推销，销售，经商

参考例句：

• There's no use in manufacturing an item unless you can merchandise it.除非能够销售得出，否则生产产品就没有价值。
• Please don't handle the merchandise.请不要摸这些商品。

8 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

9 earnings   

n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得

参考例句：

• That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
• Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。