Motorcycle Taxi Operators Want President To Halt Their Eviction

Motorcycle taxi operators in Kigali city are calling upon the president’s intervention in halting the City authorities’ decision to evict them from operating within the city center.

According to information obtained from street interviews conducted by igihe.com, Motorcyle taxi operators say, “We are being accused on baseless grounds by the traffic police and Kigali City accusing us of lacking proper documents yet we have the entire necessary documents they ask,” one motorcyclist who declined to say his name said near Kigali City Tower.

He added that traffic police patrol cars commonly refered to as Pandagari arrest them with unknown mistakes and lie that the ride without permits in their reports.

“What have we done to deserve this kind of harassment by our own leaders yet we pay taxes like any other businessmen, where do they want us to go, We have tried to be good citizens by abiding to all regulations, Isn’t the government contradicting its self when it calls on us to be job creators actually the parliament should look into this matters after all it stands for all our interests as Rwandans.” Another motorcyclist complained.

“Let the government look at all sides involved in the business (the passengers, motorcyclists, the police, and banks) rather than being one sided.
Kigali City Authority are hardening life. They should seriously rethink the decision,” he said.

The traffic police chief C/Supt. Celestine Twahirwa told Igihe.com that the enforced regulations were compiled in 2006 in an effort to reduce the then escalating road accidents caused by motorcycles.

Bruno Rangira the Kigali City’s Director of Communication told igihe.com that the claims of the motorcyclists that regulations governing their operations are new was a negligence adding that that the regulations were published in the official gazette in 2008.

“Those regulations they call new, were discussed with them in 2006 when we had stopped them from working in the city, but they have been not abided yet 70% of the accidents are cureently caused by motorcyclists or happen on them,” Rangira said in a telephone interview.