The Big Boda Boda Book

Without them, nothing works in Uganda, actually in the whole of East Africa: motorcycle taxis are the most important lifeline in megacities, they are the only way to reach remote villages - and they are one of the important branches of Uganda's economy: becoming a Boda Boda driver is one of the few real job options for young people here on the equator.
At first glance, the ubiquitous motorcyclists seem to be outlaws hanging out on the roadside, organized in gangs and barely different from beggars. Some consider them a dangerous nuisance, others an indispensable option in public transport. Their stories tell a lot about life in African megacities, about being entrepreneurs in an economy on the brink of collapse, about survival in a country whose unemployment rate is up to 80 percent.
We accompanied drivers, visited them at home and talked to their families. The Big Boda Boda Book tells stories of gangs and business people, of life on the street and of the search for survival possibilities that are exemplary for life in sub-Saharan Africa.

The Big Boda Boda Book gives an insight into the life of the Ugandan motorcycle taxi drivers. Henrike Brandstötter and Michael Hafner, free of clichés, trace the personal stories of success and suffering behind the Boda Boda business in Uganda in vivid pictures and unbiased words. What drives the Boda Boda drivers? What do they want from life? One thing becomes clear: a self-determined life in Uganda is always preferable to an escape to Europe.

What would local public transport look like in Europea or American cities, if there were no functioning public transport system? A glance at Uganda is enough to get a picture of it: Hopelessly congested streets, not just for rush hour. And yet people also get from A to B in Kampala, Entebbe or around Lake Victoria. And that thanks to the so-called Boda Bodas - the notorious motorbike taxis of Uganda.
Working as a Boda Boda rider is a rewarding, risky - but often the only - perspective for Ugandan youth who are plagued by unemployment. Boda Boda drivers earn as much as teachers or civil servants, and that without training or previous knowledge. Driver's license? That is waste paper. According to studies by the University of Kampala, five percent of the Ugandan population live off this profession. As a comparison: In Central European countries such as Austria, agriculture accounts for about 5% of the population.
Brandstötter and Hafner sit on the co-driver's seat of the Boxer Bajaj machines from India and individually pimped by each driver and cruise through the lively Ugandan metropolises with drivers who don't care much about red or green at traffic lights. They visit Everest, Ronald, John, Musei or Solomon in their homes, accompany them to the workshop and to the sign painter (everyone wants to have the most beautiful motorcycle!), to the union meeting and its legal and semi-legal activities, to the Sunday booze with the typical gin-like Waragi (Uganda has the highest per capita alcohol consumption in the world!) or simply waiting at the taxi stand for the next customer. They collect miles and miles on congested capital city roads and dusty overland tracks in search of the motivation, history and future of Boda Boda taxis. From the shores of Lake Victoria, the national parks famous for their gorillas to the border to Kenya, they paint a picture of the life of the Boda Boda drivers, raw, unadulterated and free of clichés.