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Motorcycle riders commonly known as boda bodas in Arua city. By Dramadri FederickArua City Bodaboda riders in West Nile region want the operations of Watu Uganda Company limited investigated raising concerns like extortion, and exorbitant charges and failure t
Motorcycle riders commonly known as boda bodas in Arua city.
By Dramadri Federick
Arua City
Bodaboda riders in West Nile region want the operations of Watu Uganda Company limited investigated raising concerns like extortion, and exorbitant charges and failure to heed to agreement terms.
Watu a multinational asset financing company, started its operations in Africa in 2015 in Mombasa, Kenya initially focusing on bridging the financial gap for small business owners by providing asset financing, particularly for motorcycles and three-wheelers.
By 2017, Watu became the leading financier in Kenya now investing in vehicles and later opened its branches in Uganda in 2019 providing over 130,000 Bodaboda loans across the country.
The bodaboda riders who purchased motorcycles from Watu, complain of additional costs levied by the company contrary to the agreed terms.
Robert Adriko a bodaboda rider in Arua city who borrowed a used bajaj motorcycle from Watu Africa Arua office narrates that the company keeps increasing prices even when their contract agreement is indicating different figures.
Adriko says he was expected to pay 3.1 million but found himself paying up to 4.8 million something that need to be investigated. “They told me that I will pay this bike on loan at a total sum of 4.8 million shillings, then later on when I picked the motorcycle and I started to pay, along the way I discovered that I paid more than 5 million shillings. When I complained the people at Watu refused to take me off the loan payment system and closed the loan after some time” Adriko said.
In its strategy of marketing, Watu convinces boda bodas that it can actually give the bikes within 2 hours with flexible payment terms of up to 24 months.
The loan also includes free GPS tracking services that enables the company to monitor the bike until full payment is done. The owners of the company say this is to cub theft and ensure easy follow-up of the customers.
Ronald Guma the secretary security Arua city bodaboda’s Association notes that the company offers used motorcycles at an expensive cost and this is affecting the loan servicing. Additionally Guma spotted bad customer care language that tends to provoke most of the bodaboda’s.
“Mine was 4 million for a used motorcycle and I ended up paying 7.4 million shillings I even have the documents here, additionally when you default just by an hour, the communications department will call you threatening to arrest you and I grew very thin while paying the loan, if I was not to be a strong old man I would have collapsed” Guma explained.
A snap shot of Watu Africa’s requirements for one to acquire motorbikes show that one need to present an Original National ID, A minimum down payment of UGX 1,000,000 new motorcycles and UGX 600,000 for EV bikes, Two guarantors with National IDs while no guarantor required for EV bikes and additionally the borrower must have a telephone number with registered Mobile money account of MTN/Airtel.
Swadik Amaku the Chairperson bodaboda Associations in West Nile region task Watu Uganda to change attitudes, strengthen collaboration with bod boda office and subsidize cost for a sustained business in West Nile region.
“Watu gives those bodaboda riders the motorcycles without even helmet and any knowledge of road usage and yet the motorcycles are old and the servicing is not up to date. Even sometimes they don’t have side mirrors and they roll the bikes without number plates,” Amaku revealed.
Daniem Geruth the Country Manager WATU Uganda apologized for poor communication skills by some of their customer care service providers and adds that there’s room for future improvement.
“The price is a reflection of the quality of the bike, am ok if the boda boda community feels that we should put number plates, side mirrors and provide helmets but this will add to the current cost of the bikes because we are profit making entity,” Geruth responded.
According to disclosures by Car & General, Watu Holdings, a Kenyan buy-now-pay-later startup, reported a sharp 85% drop in profit to $1.2 million in 2024 from $7.6 million in 2023 pointing to rising loan defaults, poor customer care and deteriorating repayment behavior in Watu’s core markets of Kenya, Uganda, and Sierra Leone.