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Bob Mogaka, 34 years old (real name withheld) is a boda boda (motorbikes used as a convenient and cheap means of public transport) rider. During the 2022 general elections in Kenya, Bob was a supporter of one of the political candidates. In July 2022, he picked up a passenger and dropped him off a few kilometers away on the Kisii-Kilgoris road. As Bob was dropping off his customer, a vehicle carrying four men pulled up, roughed him up and forced him into their vehicle. It was not until 6am the following day that Bob was found unconscious in the Nyamataro area of Kisii County. He suspects that his assailants were supporters of an opposing political camp.

Bob was rushed to a local public hospital, where he spent hours unattended. He was fortunate to have friends who took him from this hospital to a private one. Bob was found to have multiple fractures and a deep cut in his left leg. He underwent four surgeries and had an implant placed in his left leg. “I am thankful that I had basic insurance cover and my friends were able to sacrifice to raise money for my initial medical care. I am still paying my medical bill. We are losing most of our young people on the roads because of how accident victims are handled. There are no ambulances that are equipped to handle accident victims. We do not have qualified people available to offer medical assistance immediately. Furthermore, many of the accident victims cannot afford medical care in private institutions like I was fortunate to have, “laments Bob.

Bob has four children who depend on him, so he is already back to work, continuing with his boda boda business much as he is not fully recovered. In a passionate plea, Bob asks the government and people of good will to take action to improve emergency care for boda boda and all accident victims. He knows that he is one of the few that was lucky to survive for a long time before receiving medical care. “We are the poor and vulnerable who cannot afford care in the expensive private hospitals,” says Bob in conclusion.

In July 2022, Job Osoro was riding his boda boda (motorbike used as a cheap and convenient means of public transport) along the Sironga-Nyamira road when a matatu (public transport passenger van) hit him from behind and pushed him down into a ditch. Job sustained several injuries including a dislocation on his left foot and bruises on his face and all over the body. He was completely motionless. It took an hour before a matatu operator with compassion and some other compassionate onlookers helped him up and he was taken to a local public hospital, where he waited for hours without medical attention.

Job was later moved to a different small hospital where surgery was conducted. The surgery did not help ease his pain nor did it help his leg heal properly. He has visited about four other hospitals that are far away from his home in the last nine months but his condition has not improved. Job believes that a lot of time was lost right after the accident. He believes that with immediate emergency response, the outcome would have been different. “Nobody ever bothers to treat boda boda riders with care in cases where they have been involved in an accident. Even if some people wanted to help, there are no ambulances or hospitals well enough equipped and with trained staff to help in emergency cases.” states Job. “I was a great footballer playing in our local league but that will now remain a pipe dream. I am yet to accept the fact that I may never go back to my life as it used to be,” continues Job movingly.

Job, 34 years of age, now has to rely on his wife to try and find a way to take care of their three children. The little money he had saved has been depleted by his treatment costs.

A lost left tibia and an urgent eye surgery is all that Vincent Ombui has to contend with. On May 2022 he was involved in a road accident involving his boda boda and a vehicle belonging to one of the Tea Factories in Nyamira County along the Nyansiongo-Kijauri road in Borabu Sub County. He had left his Manga home at around 4pm on that rainy day. Less than a kilometre away from his home, he was involved in a head on collision accident that left him unconscious for two weeks. He woke up at the Kisii Teaching and Referral hospital having been dropped at the facility by a police van. “I was in deep pain; I had lost sight in my right eye. Doctors advised on amputation of my left tibia.” He says he was driven more than 50 kilometres away to KTRH to seek emergency treatment. “I am sure the injury could not have been that severe if I was to be driven in an ambulance or in a safe vehicle.” Ombui is to raise Sh 300,000 to enable him to undergo correctional surgery on his eye. He is also to be parting with more than Sh 10,000 for medical attention on his yet to heal leg. “This is a costly journey. Nobody is willing to raise money for boda boda accident victims. We are all perceived to be careless. I hope one day we get proper emergency care whenever we are involved in accidents.”