The Cycling Out of Poverty Kenya Foundation (Coop-Kenya) on Saturday rolled out an awareness campaign on road safety for bodaboda cyclists in Western Kenya.
The General Manager of Coop-Kenya Kennedy Ochieng Ombat said the cycling taxi system commonly referred to as ‘Bodaboda’ has proved to be the most convenient means of transport not only in the rural areas but also in urban centers thus the need to create more awareness.
“Recent findings from the National Transport and safety Authority established that young bodaboda riders aged between 19 and 39 years are reckless and not professionally trained thus causing high number of road accidents," revealed the Coop-Kenya MD.
He said the decision to roll out the campaign was prompted by such worrying statistics and they are targeting to reach out over 20,000 bodaboda operators from all the counties in Nyanza and Western.
Speaking to the media in Kisumu at the sidelines of a training program from the operators, Mr Ombat acknowledged the bodaboda sector has become part of the county’s economy and cannot be ignored in any future planning on road safety.
“Today, we have trained over 200 cyclists from Kisumu and Kakamega counties and equipped them with the necessary road safety knowledge that not only seeks to prevent accidents but also to administer first aid to their passengers whenever an accident occurs,” affirmed Ombat.
He revealed that the program will immediately resume at the beginning of new year with training in South Nyanza counties of Homa Bay and Migori.
The Coop-Kenya MD who was accompanied by the organisation’s Programs Manager Clifford Okoth, appreciated the other organisations they are partnering with in this program like the Ministry of Health through Siaya Referral Hospital, NTSA, Red Cross through St Johns Ambulance and the county government of Kisumu.
He said that the second of training on safety awareness which begins in January 2016, will see the operators get branded shades and bicycles for ease of management on their own groups and movement.