Commercial motorcyclists in Juba commonly known as boda bodas have expressed disgruntlement over the negligent handling of their affairs by the South Sudan Boda Boda Association.
A number of sources who openly expressed their dissatisfaction to City Review said the Association does not offer support and protection despite collecting SSP 500 on a monthly basis, raising concerns over the aim and objective of the Association.
Like many other businesses in Juba, boda boda remains a risky income-generating endeavor with persistent cases of motorists getting robbed and losing their bikes to criminals, sometimes at gunpoint. But the Association never took any action.
Nelson Loro Lagu, a boda boda in Juba rider has demanded the leadership of the Association to explain the main reason for its existence since the body never intervenes in solving problems facing its fully-subscribed members.
“We face a lot of issues and yet there is a Boda Boda Association. But we don’t even understand how they help us the boda boda men yet we pay SSP 500 every month and we also pay for identity cards. So, we want to know how this association is helping us because we don’t understand them and even where the money we pay goes,” Loro fumed.
Another motorist only identified as Modi also criticised the body saying they are better off without it as the body does not even help in the recovery process of a motorbike in case of theft.
“These people are just eating our money because even if someone is involved in an accident they don’t help. But what we want the association to help us with is when a motorbike is stolen, they should help finding it,” he said.
However, the Chairperson of the South Sudan Motorcyclist Boda-boda Association Abraham Jok Mooch said 10 per cent of the money collected by the association from motorcyclists is given to members as insurance cover, a claim City Review could not independently verify.
Boda-boda riders currently wear yellow reflector jackets donated by MTN to ensure their safety. Sources familiar with the development say, the association contributed very little, if any, to that course.
Majority of South Sudan’s population are youths; over 70 per cent of them are unemployed and more than half of that estimate, especially females, rely on small to medium-scale business endeavors for survival while boda-boda has taken a center-stage among males.