Dar es Salaam. “Since my husband passed away, life has been difficult. Only God knows how my children and I manage to eat; we have no certainty about tomorrow,” says Mariam Jumanne, a mother of two.
Her husband died in a 2020 motorcycle accident while working as a bodaboda driver. At the time, their daughter was three, and Mariam was four months pregnant. Complications from her pregnancy forced her to quit her job at a pharmaceutical shop, leaving the family without a source of income.
“When my husband died, everything changed. He provided for everything—food, school fees, insurance. Now, my daughter no longer attends the private school she was in,” Mariam explains.
Her husband had begun building a house, but three years later, little progress has been made. “We’ve become dependent on relatives and have turned into beggars,” she adds.
Peter John, a 39-year-old bodaboda driver, faces a different struggle. In May 2024, he was in an accident in Buguruni, Dar es Salaam, where he broke his left leg while avoiding a pedestrian. The injury has left him bedridden and unable to work.
“My family depends on me for everything, but now I can’t earn. I’ve had to use my savings to get by,” Peter says.
Peter has four children, three of whom are young, and the eldest recently finished secondary school. Without his income, he can’t even afford to transport his children to school. His wife, Mama Wawili, now takes small jobs to provide food for the family.
The accident has hit the family hard, with over Sh200,000 spent on Peter’s treatment. Without health insurance, they continue to face mounting medical costs, adding to their financial strain. Meanwhile, Peter’s father, who had traveled for medical care, remains stuck at home due to lack of support.
The impact of bodaboda accidents goes beyond individual families. Motorcycle accidents in Tanzania place a heavy burden on the healthcare system, requiring significant portions of the national health budget for treating accident victims. Furthermore, the loss of lives and the permanent disabilities caused by these accidents reduce the country’s workforce, affecting national productivity.
Mariam and Peter’s stories are just two examples from a larger community of people affected by bodaboda accidents. Some have lost loved ones, while others, like Peter, have sustained serious injuries that have permanently altered their lives. Whether as passengers or drivers, many Tanzanians have had their lives disrupted by these accidents.
Police data shows that 376 people died in motorcycle crashes in 2023, a 13.3 percent increase from the previous year, while 381 were injured. This means, on average, at least one person died and another was injured every day due to motorcycle crashes in 2023.
According to the Police Report for Crime Statistics and Road Safety Incidents in 2023, a total of 435 motorcycle crashes were reported, down from 448 crashes in 2022.
The question remains: what impact did the loss of those 376 lives have on their families? And how are the 381 injured coping with life—are their stories similar to those of Mariam and Peter? That’s just for one year—what about the last 10 years or more?
The police attribute these accidents to a lack of road safety education, failure to follow traffic rules, defective vehicles, poor infrastructure, drunk driving, and negligence.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO) Status report on road safety in the WHO African Region 2023 the most vulnerable road users (pedestrians, cyclists and users of two- and three-wheeler vehicles) bear the highest burden of road traffic fatalities accounted for 50 percent. The African Region has the highest proportion of pedestrian road traffic fatalities 33 percent.
The report also noted that, “Evidence suggests that cyclists and powered two-wheelers (motorcyclists/moped drivers) are perceived to be the least safe of all transport modes. Thus, promotion of walking/ cycling must be carried out in a context where their safety is specially protected”.
Health issues
The Muhimbili Orthopaedic Institute (MOI) receives approximately 700 road accident victims monthly, 60 percent which involve bodabodas.
“Most of our patients are victims of motorcycle accidents, either as passengers, drivers, or drivers of other vehicles involved in collisions with motorcycles,” said
Dr Lemeri Mchome, Acting Director of MOI, during a press conference in July 2024. He added that 75 percent of these victims suffer injuries to their arms and legs, with many requiring expensive medical equipment and long recovery times.
The police force has outlined several strategies to reduce accidents, including speed regulation, frequent road inspections, penalizing violators, and educating road users on safety. They also aim to ensure that vehicle owners hire skilled, responsible drivers and regularly inspect their vehicles.
However, while these measures address road safety, many, like retired teacher Reuben Masanja, believe that creating more job opportunities for the youth will help reduce the number of bodaboda accidents.
“We need to create more employment opportunities. Many of these young people wouldn’t be riding motorcycles if they had better jobs,” Masanja explained.
In 2024, the government announced new job openings in sectors such as education and healthcare, offering hope that more young people will find stable employment outside the dangerous bodaboda industry.
But until more opportunities are created, families like Leticia’s and Peter’s will continue to suffer from the harsh consequences of motorcycle accidents.
