Kampala Road bodaboda cyclist, Kasozi Paul was this morning arrested in the middle of a busy section near Post Office building today for slowing down his bike at the zebra crossing in a bid to let pedestrians cross the road.
Earlier in the morning at around *am, Kasozi left his home in Bwaise and headed to his work station in town. It was all fine until he reached this particular zebra crossing where pedestrians were waiting to cross the road. Kasozi, who apparently believes Bodaboda cyclists must obey the law, slowed down his bike at the zebra crossing to let pedestrians pass.
All of a sudden, two traffic cops who were busy killing time at the nearby newspaper stand came running toward him and started scolding him for slowing down. his bike.
According to eyewitnesses, the other Bodaboda cyclists and taxi drivers who were behind Mr. Kasozi gathered as well and helped the cops to humiliate the troubled Bodaboda cyclist
He was spreadeagled over the bonnet of the police car in seconds by the cops who started searching him hastily. They asked him for paper. The Bodaboda cyclist assumed it was the license and driving permit which he handed over to them. They instead spanked him saying; “…not these papers you idiot, we mean paper not papers…”
A while later, Kasozi who was still in shock said, “…I just stopped my bike at the zebra crossing. I was just following the traffic rules. I wonder why they took my license, fined and humiliated me in front of the media before warning me about my future conduct…”
According to the other motorists UCN spoke to, the traffic cops did their job right. “…To hell with the rules man. Kampala is a city with a rich culture and heritage. We follow the culture not the freaking rules. And Kampala traffic culture teaches Bodaboda cyclists and taxis that you should speed up your bike or vehicle when you see pedestrians trying to cross the road and win the race. What kind of idiot was Kasozi to stop his bike?…..” Hajji Seeka, a senior taxi driver along Jinja road stated.
“..Why would you stop your bike when you can scare the hell out of the pedestrians by revving your engine or speeding up and feel like Sebuguzi or Michael Schumacher? He shoulld be like that boda guy who flew to space after hitting a pothole. All I can say is that we must respect our cultural and religious values more than anyone else and nobody has the right to hurt our sentiments. The cops did well to stop that knucklehead..” a furious Hajji went on to add.
When our reporter asked a taxi driver who was just behind Kasozi about his opinion on the whole scenario, he replied, “…Well, whatever! He followed the rules by slowing down his bike, pedestrians crossed the road, the cops got to arrest him, and we taxi-drivers got to blow the horn nonstop. Everyone is happy!….”
