Paper short abstract:

This paper tells the history of bodaboda as a history of its stands/stages, exploring how motorcycle stands spatially organize Kakamega town; how they operate as a gathering site for young men; and how the solidarities of the past have been transformed in the shift from bicycle to motorcycle.

Paper long abstract:

This paper focuses on bodaboda (bicycle/motorcycle taxi) stands in Kakamega, Western Kenya. In the 1990s, bicycle transport became an important business in Kakamega. Bicycle-owner associations controlled particular routes and their "stages," the places where riders gathered to wait for customers. Over time, the associations came to be defined by their stage, and vice versa. In addition to regulating the right to ride on a specific route, the stage associations disciplined their ridership—they helped to allay anxieties about "youth on wheels" by imposing uniforms and bicycle licenses. Politicians saw these organizations as pre-formed voting blocks, and banked votes with favors and money. In its early years in Kakamega, bodaboda underwrote small fortunes and even political careers, largely because of the visibility of the stage associations and their political clout.

Today, motorcycle bodabodas have replaced most of the bicycles, and the historic power of the associations is reduced, but stages have proliferated across Kakamega town. At every intersection, outside every major building and shopping center, at the gate of every park, groups of young men sit on or lean against their bikes, waiting for passengers. This paper tells the history of bodaboda as a history of these stages, exploring how stages and their routes spatially organize Kakamega town and its relationship to nearby rural areas; how they operate as a gathering site for young men; and how the solidarities of the past have been both maintained and transformed in the shift to the motorcycle.