Driving Drivers Licenses

Is price the only obstacle between boda riders and driving licences?

Uganda’s motorcycle taxi operators, widely known as boda riders, are notorious for reckless road use which is often attributed to inappropriate training. The informal transportation gurus are largely trained by friends and relatives who put emphasis on how to operate a motorcycle and little care on how to drive responsibly. This is one of the factors that see them drive without driving licenses despite the routine enforcement for possession of Class A driving license.

In November, 2024, Uganda’s Ministry of Works and Transport announced new prices for the Class A drivers license, responding to boda rider complaints about the price.

While the reduction in prices is welcomed by many riders, it still costs 10 days of profit for the average boda rider to afford a one year license — and over a month of profit if they get a three-year license through a driver training school. This explains why only around 10% of boda riders in Kampala have valid drivers licenses, while a city like Bangkok, where a drivers license costs only one day of profit, has over 75% compliance.

The process of acquiring a driving license

The process of acquiring the driver’s license is lengthy and requires first getting a learners permit.

1. Enrolment in a legitimate driving school.

Each driving school charges differently. At this step, a candidate may pay the total amount charged by the driving school — 516,500 UGX ($140) for a three-year-valid driving license at a popular driving school. This covers the learner’s permit, medical checkup, and some other administrative costs. And they must have a National ID.

2. Medical checkup.

At this step, a candidate is directed to a medical personnel for an eye test, usually under the same roof or somewhere close to the driving school. The cost for the checkup is usually included in the cost of the training course. When I went, they did not check my eyesight at all but just ticked the box and signed.

3. Payment for the learners permit.

It is time to pay for the learners permit. This has been 60,000 UGX ($16) but is now 40,000 UGX ($10.81), payable to the Uganda Revenue Authority through a bank or electronic payment. Also usually done under the same roof. Proof of payment is provided.

4. Get learners permit.

The candidate is directed to the Uganda Driver Licensing System (UDLS), where biometric details are taken after which a learners permit is issued.

5. Training.

After acquiring the learners permit, the candidate is eligible to attend the training. So they go back to the driving school to start the training. At Tweyiye Driving School (not real name), a candidate pays 180,000 UGX ($49) for the driving lessons. However, since boda riders go there when they already know how to operate a motorcycle, they are charged a uniform rate of 350,500 UGX ($95) to cover the rest of the expenses to acquire the three-year-valid driving license. Those who need the “full package”, according to Tweyiye, have to pay a total of 516,500 UGX ($140) for a three-year-valid driving license — this would take more than a month of boda riders profit to pay. Note that these are current rates after the purported reduction of prices.

6. Driving Test at the Inspectorate of Vehicles. (IOV-Test).

After the training and pretests at the driving school, the candidate is prepared to face the IOV. Preparation involves payment of 25,000 UGX ($6.75) to URA, and booking for the test at the IOV office.

Before the candidate visits the IOV, the driving school prepares a file that contains the following:

Proof of payments
Certificate of completion of training
Original copy of learners permit
Medical form

The candidate goes with the file to the IOV, where they are subjected to competence tests for operating the motorcycle and safe road use.

When they pass the tests, they receive a Certificate of Competence and a stamp on their learners permit, from the IOV office, added to their file.

7. Getting the driving license

This is the step where the candidate may choose one year, three years or five years validity and pays accordingly. It’s the step that most people see and think or believe there’s a reduction in the cost of a driving license.

After the payment, the candidate goes back to UDLS where they present the fully prepared file and queue up to pick up the driving license.

Just fwaa

It’s a long process — so it won’t surprise you that two out of five boda riders try to avoid the driving schools and handle the process by themselves, through knowing people and trying to pay the right bribe. In this case, many get confused and quit after wasting some money and time. Others push on until they get the licenses but usually at a higher cost, while many, after spending money and time, end up getting fake driving licenses. The negative stories that follow the failures attract resentment against the whole idea of acquiring the drivers license, giving the majority of boda riders a reason to ignore the process.

Many boda riders who have ever acquired driving licenses never renew when the validity period elapses. This is partly due to the bad first experience with the process, but also due to lack of money and prevalence of options such as “kitu kidogo” (small token to the enforcing police officer, in form of a bribe). “First of all, I don’t have money for the driving license. Secondly all that the policeman wants is money! I’d rather pay ten thousand shillings to the policeman than struggling with the driving license.” Said Ivan, a boda rider on Kampala Road.

Implication on road safety

Boda riders who have not attended driving lessons also get driving licenses as long as they pay the required dues.
Boda riders who have no driving licenses can continue operating as long as they can bribe the enforcement.
Boda riders often rely on dangerous escape methods as they try to flee from the routine crackdowns.

These scenarios indicate a mess that makes it hard for an average boda rider to see the purpose of a driving licence, to such an extent that even if it was issued free of charge, defiance would still dominate. And it represents the complexity of ensuring we have safe roads.

Recommended policy changes

There’s a need to ensure that the process of acquiring a driving licence is more of a road safety enforcement strategy than an income generating activity for the government. Currently, the opposite is happening. A few policy changes could help with this:

The price of the driving license should be brought down significantly to simply cover the cost of producing the card.
The system should be simplified and explained to boda riders from the beginning, many of whom report the process to be confusing. This could be done through boda stages and boda associations.
Motorcycle dealers should sell only to people who have driving licences.
Transfer of ownership of a motorcycle should be open to only people who have class A driving licenses.
Financial institutions should require boda riders to present driving licences to access the services.
Training drivers should be strictly monitored to ensure a reliable standard is observed in all driving schools.

These policy recommendations, if adopted and implemented, can raise driving license compliance, increase social responsibility in the fight against road crash fatalities, reduce the dependency on manned crackdowns and overall, promote road safety.