LAMU, Kenya — In the old town of Lamu, a historic Swahili trading outpost, a motorbike taxi weaves through a crush of donkeys, market hawkers and wooden handcarts.
A decade ago, there were only two vehicles on the sleepy island: a motorcycle for the electricity company, and the district commissioner’s 4×4.
However in the past two years there has been an explosion in the number of noisy motorbike taxis known as “boda bodas”, with the two-wheelers clogging ancient narrow lanes and threatening Lamu’s coveted World Heritage status.
“(Their) numbers are surging. Now we have almost 400 boda bodas,” said Abdulhakim Aboud, the deputy governor of Lamu County.
The bikes in Februa…
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