Following the increase of street crime in the capital of Ethiopia, Addis Ababa, the city administration has banned the movement of all individually-owned motorcycles within the city.
The Administrations ban on all motorcycles owned by individuals will be effective as of July 8, 2019, according to Addis Ababa City Deputy Mayor Takele Umma, who briefed journalists this morning. He stated that the Addis Ababa City Administration has made a study and found out that many crimes have been committed by individuals using motorcycles. He further stated that most of these motorcycles are not registered in Addis Ababa City.
The ban will not include embassy motorcycles and those engaged in postal service, police and the like. The movement of motorcycles has been increased in Addis Ababa in the past few years. While some of them have been using it to give transportation services without being registered as a business, some also have been using them for grabbing items from the inhabitants of the city and run.
Customs reports show that most of the motorcycles have been smuggled from Kenya along border towns without being taxed or registered in the transport authority database legally.