Once the county legal process is done, more than 100 unclaimed motorcycles that were seized more than a year ago in Nairobi will be auctioned.
The 193 motorcycles have been sitting in police yards on Dagoretti and Ngong Road for more than two years after their owners failed to come up with necessary paperwork, such as logbooks and receipts, to claim them.
“When we detain the motorcycles, we want a logbook and receipt from the companies and distributors because we assume some of these motorcycles were stolen or acquired illegally,” said William Kangogo, Head of Enforcement at Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS).
Kangogo spoke out in the midst of a city-wide crackdown on boda-boda operators.
The operation, which has lasted three weeks, is aimed at regions where riders are not permitted to operate.
“We have been detaining boda-boda riders within the CBD where they are not authorized to operate for the previous three weeks since the majority of them have been tied to illegal activity, such as the ones who took phones from police officers,” Kangogo added.
He explained that the first step in the auctioning process is to create a list, which they will pass over to the Director of Procurement, and then they will seek a court order to finish the legal procedure.
Kangogo added that the department is also following up on leads linking a city politician to the importation of motorbikes, which he reportedly used to entice the youth ahead of the elections next year.
“We believe he’s using them as a bribe to obtain votes. The youth recruited are from his district, but some of them rent out their motorcycles to criminals at night,” he explained.
Over 100 boda boda operators have been arrested and charged in court as a result of the three-week investigation, according to the officer.
“A lot of them who have been charged in City Court pay the fines, which can be as high as Sh40,000. “This is where the politician issue comes into play,” Kangogo explained.
