An Interview With Teddy Kabatoro, A Woman Boda Rider.
In Fort Portal, Kabarole District, I met Teddy Kabatoro, vice chairperson of the Kabarole Womens Boda Boda Rider and Farmer Association. Teddy has been riding her motorcycle for more than six years and she knows more than almost anyone about what it’s like to be one of very few women in the boda boda industry.
The interview below is abridged and edited for clarity.
Thanks so much for agreeing to this interview, Teddy. So, how did you start working as a boda boda rider?
I started at night. I cannot deceive you. I was cooking food on the street — chapatis, rice, plus little little matooke. Where I was working from there was only men, and they were sitting on the boda bodas. They told me “if anything happens yet you don’t know how to ride the motorcycle, and our motorcycles are there, there will be a problem. You start learning.” So I started. After realizing there is money at night I started looking for my own motorcycle.
How did Kabarole Women’s Boda Boda Rider and Farmer Association start?
It was this one here, Asiimu. She came looking for me because I was the first woman riding motorcycle in Fort Portal. You know, in the office of Kabarole Boda Boda Association, when they are doing their things, they don’t involve us there. And we are under them. So we started our own association. In that association we are thirty-five, and we are all women, but those who have motorcycles are only around ten, eleven. Even you can’t recognize them as women. Even if it is me putting on my jacket, my helmet, you’ll never know that I’m a woman. The other members who have no motorcycle are doing other jobs, but they are looking for their own motorcycles. They are very expensive, it is 5.2 M for a Bajaj. But as a woman when you go to a boss and ask for a boda boda, they say “ah you are weak, you are a woman, if they see you on a motorcycle they will steal it from you.”
What other challenges do you face?
The men we are parking with. Customers are putting trust in you, but men are feeling jealous because they want women to stay in the kitchen and prepare for the children.
How did you join your stage?
When they were constructing the stage, I had a business of catching grasshoppers. They came by and saw I had iron sheets, and they said we want iron sheets. So I gave them two iron sheets. I used to work from my place, I was getting a lot of work at my place but I wasn’t seeing them work at their place. But I accepted, so I didn’t have to pay stage registration fee.
What is the purpose of the Woman’s Association?
We were advising members — we saved some money and bought some goats. They bought those goats and I was rearing them, so when they grow big we sold them to buy a motorcycle, which we gave to one of our members. But right now, we are not getting money.
How did you get the loan for your motorcycle?
The loan is from Uganda Women Entrepreneurs. You get a loan, you keep saving, and when you finish, they give you your ownership card. It was 4.6 M. I should pay 200,000 every month, but sometimes I can pay more, or I can pay less.
Could you use Tugende?
They are giving motorcycle loans, but they are very expensive. If you fail to pay, you delay, they will take it. You have worked for nothing. The government loan is better, because the interest is less. In Tugende it is like you are paying for two motorcycles.
Do you think it is better to get a mugagga and rent every day or get a loan?
It is better to pay a loan, because when you finish up your motorcycle you take your motorcycle. But if you are working for a boss, you have to pay until he chases you out.
How was lockdown? Were there still movements during lockdown in Fort Portal?
Yeah, it was very dangerous. Because they had police, the police who had motorcycles. They were using those very same roads as us. If they get you there, they will beat you, take you to jail, and you will pay a fine of 150,000 ($42). They will make sure they get something from you.
Do you think there are more men or women moving by boda boda in Fort Portal?
The women are very many on the road. Nowadays the men are even lazy to work [laughs]. For the men, their money can go for different things. If he gets muchomo (grilled meat) on the road, he can buy. If he gets another woman on the road, even the woman will get some of his money. For women, they are better at saving, so there is money for the children to survive, and for the capital to remain. They are all parents, but then there is responsible parents. That is women.
