Boda Boda

The drive from Kampala to Entebbe airport can take 2 hours, despite a distance of about 40 km's. I have found that time spent in traffic is best invested in taking photographs of the textured human activity along these busy corridors and chatting to taxi drivers. After the mandatory exchanges on the FIFA World Cup and our President's colorful personal life (a source of amusement and not insubstantial derision from most people that I have encountered on my travels), I am almost always presented with colorful tales and opinions that give some wonderful insights into local life. One such story is the origin of the name 'boda boda' assigned to motorcycle taxis (and the excellent bar I went to the previous night....). Apparently these vehicles provide transport to passengers and goods between the Kenyan and Ugandan borders. These mobilities also accommodate smuggling apparently; cheaper Kenyan sugar being the most popular product that finds its way boda to boda.

The notion of borders in the African context is infused with history and battles. The Great Lakes region is particularly prone to conflicts arising from colonial legacies infused with tribal resentments and old battles. A different kind of battle is discernible in the media; that of the sexes. In the run-up to Valentines Day, a radio phone-in program revealed an interesting dilemma; a listener was earnestly seeking advice on which of her four boyfriends she should go out with on this auspicious day. Apparently this is not an unique problem. My Ugandan friends tell me that the increase in the HIV infection rate recently is due to these peculiar sexual networks that proliferate. Intimacies transgress boundaries of marital status and commitment on both sides of the gender divide. Billboards graphically depict the extent of these networks and their implications. There is tacit public agreement and I would venture to say, acceptance of this sexual behavior. I harbor no moral judgement in this respect (in fact I am amazed that people have time for such complications in their lives!), what I do find contentious however, is that such openness co-exists with the homophobia that has been institutionalized in Uganda, effectively criminalizing homosexual relationships. Clearly some borders are more porous than others.