Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang'i has now said the government has embarked on a radical transformation of the boda boda sector in the country.
Addressing the press on Tuesday over an incident where a female motorist was sexually assaulted by a group of suspected boda boda riders, Matiang'i urged Kenyans to back the government in its effort to arrest what he termed as "madness" in the boda boda sector.
"We cannot continue this way, that kind of madness is too much for all of us and we cannot accept more. The time has come for nothing short of a very ruthless and radical reorganization of the boda boda sector.
"I just ask Kenyans, like we have had to carry out very painful reforms in some sectors, to support us. The time has come for us to confront this madness once and for all. The level of impunity being seen in this sector cannot be tolerated," CS Matiang'i said.
Matiangi spoke after a meeting that included Transport CS James Macharia, ICT's Joe Mucheru and other stakeholders who gathered to evaluate how the situation can be addressed.
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The CS confirmed that 16 suspects are in custody in connection to the incident and said more will be pursued.
"We have arrested 16 suspects so far and we are looking forward to getting more. We are better than the beastly act we saw the other day.
The CS added that the beastly act has called for immediate implementation of a task force report on transforming the boda boda sector.
"As a result of that, we are meeting to discuss the boda boda task force report that was released to streamline their operations in the sector. We cannot continue this way," the CS said.
Earlier on, Inspector General of police Hillary Mutyambai said that over 200 riders had been arrested and 913 motorcycles seized in a major crackdown.
The operations seek to weed out unscrupulous operators who are tainting the image of the sector.
