Azimio presidential flagbearer Raila Odinga directed boda boda riders to issue free rides to his supporters on election day.

In a meeting with the riders in Nairobi’s Nyayo Stadium on Monday, July 25, Odinga asked the riders to ferry all persons with disability, the elderly and those who may lack facilitation to the polling stations across the country without charging fares. 

Although the former Prime Minister did not table a payment proposal for the plan, over 2,000 attendees endorsed Odinga for the presidency with just 14 days remaining to the August 9 poll.

“I want all boda boda riders to ferry all the disabled people in Kenya to polling stations on August 9 to cast their votes for free,” Odinga stated.

He promised to lower the cost of motorbikes to enable riders to possess their own instead of relying on employers.

The ODM boss called on the government to respect the sector, terming riders as essential providers who must be treated with respect.

“We have a plan to transform the sector. We urge the current government to treat riders with respect because they are people who provide essential services.”

He blamed the police forces for harassing the riders and promised to change the disciplinary force from an all-time known police force to a police service.

“We are going to reform the system to convert a police force into a police service for the people of Kenya.”

Raila is for the energising of the rural economy, a policy he argued would give the youth great fodder to empower themselves. 

The Azimio boss was in a last stretch bid to solidify Nairobi votes in the run-up to the much-contested General Election. 

The former premier also promised to push for a favourable tax regime to ensure the riders thrive in their different ventures. 

Ruto had also been courted for the riders in his race to State House, taking credit for the youth empowerment initiatives as he pushed his bottom-up economic model.

There are 1.2 million riders in Kenya with data from the National Treasury indicating that nine out of ten motorbikes were used for commercial purposes.

According to Treasury, the sector provides one million direct jobs and raises Ksh1 billion daily. With Ksh1,000 made from the business every day per rider, it translates to about Ksh300 million worth of fuel each day, out of which about Ksh163 million goes to the government in form of taxes, levies and other charges.