Dar es Salaam. Every weekday morning, across Tanzania’s bustling cities and remote villages, a noisy, unconventional convoy winds through alleys and highways: Bajajs and Bodabodas ferrying children to school.
These three- and two-wheeled vehicles have become indispensable to many Tanzanian families, especially where school buses are unavailable or unaffordable.
But behind the buzzing engines and swift maneuvers lie stories of desperation, danger—and defiance—in the face of laws designed to protect the very children they carry.
In the Mbezi suburb of Dar es Salaam, Ms Amina Suleiman, a single mother of three, waits at the roadside each morning for her children’s Bajaj driver.
“I can’t afford the monthly school bus fees—over Sh150,000 per child. With the Bajaj, I pay Sh1,000 per trip. It’s not ideal, but it gets them to school,” she told The Citizen.
Her story echoes that of thousands of parents, especially in cities like Mwanza and Arusha, where formal school transport is often a luxury.
For the majority, the fast and flexible bodaboda (motorcycle taxi) or the slightly more stable Bajaj (three-wheeler) is the only option. But with convenience comes risk.
When a shortcut costs too much
One afternoon in Arusha, eight-year-old Dennis limps into class on crutches. His father, Mr Joseph Mshana, recalls the moment that changed everything.
“A bodaboda hit a pothole while carrying Dennis and another child, mishikaki style (three children on one motorcycle). It overturned,” he says during a video call, adding, “My son lost his leg. No child should go through this.”
Mr Mshana now advocates for stricter traffic law enforcement. “Parents need to stop taking shortcuts. I wish I had.”
The normalisation of mishikaki
Once slang for skewered street meat, “mishikaki” now commonly describes the illegal practice of carrying multiple passengers—sometimes up to four—on a single motorcycle.
The practice breaches the 2010 Transport Licensing Regulations for Motorcycles and Tricycles (amended in 2017), which prohibit carrying more than one passenger and bar unaccompanied children under the age of nine.
A recent survey carried out by The Citizen in Dar es Salaam, Mwanza, and Arusha found that 67 percent of children using bodabodas for school were under 12, with nearly half transported in the mishikaki style.
According to Section 168 of the Road Traffic Act (2002), carrying more than one passenger on a motorcycle is illegal.
The law also mandates helmets for both rider and passenger—yet this is rarely enforced.
In Dar es Salaam, where traffic jams can stretch for hours, bodabodas offer a faster route. For parents like Hussein Mbwana, a father of two, it’s a necessity.
“I leave home at 6:30 a.m. A bus would take too long. This is the only way my children get to school on time.”
Law versus reality
The traffic police acknowledge the problem but point to limited resources.
“We stop and fine riders daily, but parents keep using them,” a traffic police officer in Dar es Salaam, Mariam Ndaki, noted. “Some don’t know the risks. Others just ignore them.”
In Mwanza, bodaboda rider Abdul Majaliwa says he has been fined twice, “But parents still call. They even beg us to carry three children. If I say no, someone else will take the job.”
In Arusha, Bajaj driver Riziki John faces a similar dilemma: “I try to take just one or two. But when five kids are waiting and all have paid, what do you do?”
A rising toll on children
A pediatric trauma specialist at Muhimbili Orthopaedic Institute (MOI), Dr Eunice Mwakalinga, warns of a disturbing trend.
“Injuries from motorcycle accidents involving children have doubled over the past three years,” she says.
She notes that children cannot absorb the trauma of crashes the way adults can, adding most don’t wear helmets—and those who do often wear ill-fitting ones.
“Mishikaki riding exposes children to severe head injuries, spinal damage, and long-term trauma,” explains the expert.
What can be done?
Experts are calling for a multi-stakeholder response that balances affordability with safety, including community-led school vans where neighbourhoods can co-own or rent vans, sharing costs and reducing reliance on motorcycles.
“Government subsidies where targeted transport support could be given to low-income families in underserved areas, and pupils could be driven by certified school transport drivers. Often, background checks and safety training are required for bodaboda and Bajaj drivers carrying schoolchildren,” said Dr Mwakalinga.
According to her, public awareness campaigns to educate parents on the risks and legal consequences of unsafe transport should be prioritised, “This is not just a transport issue—it’s a public health crisis.”
As Tanzania continues to urbanize and its education system expands, safe and accessible school transport must be prioritized—not just for convenience, but for the well-being and future of the nation’s children.
