Yesterday ride hailing company SafeBoda launched its 3rd vaccination drive. The ceremony was officiated by the State Minister for Kampala Honorable Kyofatogabye Kabuye. SafeBoda announced the opening of the vaccination drive which will run until the 17th December 2021.
In his recent tweet the President of Uganda H.E Yoweri Kaguta Museveni commended the efforts of private sector players in mobilizing the community for vaccination. Among the companies that he recognized was Safe Boda, Uganda Breweries Limited, NICE Ug among others.
SafeBoda has been involved of drives to get the community vaccinated. The company has worked with various partners to push this objective and has cumulatively vaccinated over 7000 people in past drives.
Speaking at the ceremony the company Co-founder and Director of Ops Ricky Rapa Thompson encouraged the boda boda community to embrace the vaccination drive as one of the sure ways of protecting their loved ones from the Covid19 epidemic. He also encouraged the government to consider the plight of the boda boda men by revising some of the policies that affect them as an industry.
“Honorable Minister we humbly request you to take our feedback to the cabinet team which makes policies. The people who work in markets, offices and other places in Kampala have a need to reach home in time which is why they use our services but it is really disheartening to see that taxis are allowed to operate up to 9pm and boda-bodas have to stop work at 6pm. It is our humble request that you revisit this issue Honorable Minister.” Ricky said.
Honourable Kyofatogabye urged the community to embrace such initiatives which safe-guard their loved ones safe and also advised the community to avoid misinformation concerning the issue of vaccination. The minister commended the move by the private sector to mobilize the community for vaccination.
“I furthermore applaud SafeBoda for the great attitude and staunch spirit held in regards to serving the community. Despite having been substantially affected by the restrictions that came in handy with managing Covid19, like the curfew and the lockdown, it has been one of the most innovative and impactful companies in the country within the bounds of fighting and suppressing the virus.” Honorable Kyofatogabye Kabuye, State Minister for Kampala.
SafeBoda communications manager Edgar Karamagi mentioned that the reason for the initiative is to support the government attain the minimum vaccination threshold for the economy to be safely reopened. The government of Uganda has already hit the 6 million mark of people vaccinated and aims to vaccinate 49.6% of the population in a phased manner.
