President Kenyatta has ordered a census of all motorcycle taxi drivers across the country and the utmost severity towards them. Hundreds of arrests have taken place. This follows the scandal caused by the video of the attack on a young woman by several motorcycle taxi drivers.
With our correspondent in Nairobi, Florence Morice
The video quickly went viral on social media. We see a young woman, screaming at the wheel of her open car, being attacked and partially undressed by several motorcycle taxi drivers, obviously after an accident. An act described as cruel, inhuman ” and “ barbaric by Martha Koome, head of the Kenyan judiciary.
Faced with the outcry, President Kenyatta reacted vigorously. He asked law enforcement to use the instruments of the law to punish the perpetrators “. Sixteen people have already been arrested. The Head of State also ordered that all motorbike taxi drivers re-register with the authorities, under penalty of punishment. This activity ” is not a license to strip and take away the dignity of our women “, launched the president.
24 hours later, 200 drivers had already been arrested and the movement is not weakening. So much so that motorcycle taxis are rare in the capital. Many of them having given up going out for fear of being arrested. This complicates travel in Nairobi but also paralyzes the highly developed home delivery sector in the capital. What also further tarnish the image of this profession decried in Kenya and classified in 2019 by the Ministry of the Interior as ” threat to national security “.