Boda-boda Driver from Kampala, Uganda

Jackson is a boda-boda[1] driver in the city of Kampala. When he first moved to Kampala, he started out by washing cars. In 2005, he was able to secure a job as a boda-boda driver, although he did not own the boda-boda that he was driving. Eventually, the owner of his boda-boda offered to sell him the bike. He was also willing to give Jackson a loan to finance the bike.  They came to an agreement where Jackson was asked to pay 1.5 million Ugandan Shillings (around $580) over the course of five months. Today, Jackson owns the boda-boda.

Jackson lives with his wife and two children. In general, he keeps his finances separate from his wife’s but he tells her exactly how much he makes every day (which is variable) so that they can plan what to do with his money. Jackson says that his wife does not increase her financial demands if she is aware that he has made more money on a particular day. She, however, does not tell him how much she has made as there is no such obligation given her family role and she is expected to earn less than him (if at all). She sometimes contributes towards household expenses, but usually towards inexpensive items such as changing the carpet, or buying cups and other utensils. Jackson’s wife sells clothes for a living, so she might contribute to the household expenses by supplying clothes to the family as well. Jackson’s current mobile phone, which is a dual-SIM phone and cost a 110,000 Ugandan Shillings (around $43), was gifted to him by his wife when his own phone was stolen. She gifted Jackson her old phone, while she bought herself a new one. They seldom use each other’s phones. However, she may use his phone if she is low on or out of airtime. He might use her phone to call someone, or send text messages to him/her, or even key in a number on his wife’s behalf if she is busy.

Recently, Jackson’s younger brother, John, sent his young daughter to Jackson’s home. Before this, the young girl was staying with John’s new wife. However, her stepmother was mistreating her which is why John dropped her off at Jackson’s place. Jackson takes care of all of his niece’s expenses. Indeed, he treats the child like one of his own. However, John did commit to at least paying for her school fees as this is a substantial cost. Jackson is also caring for another one of his sibling’s child. Due to the extra mouths in the household, his monthly expenses have gone up significantly.

Jackson also has a child from an ex-mistress who he still supports if and when he is so able to. If nothing else, Jackson ensures that he is at least able to pay his school fees. He seldom visits his ex-mistress or his child. Their communication is limited to the mobile phone; his ex-mistress will call and ask for money which Jackson, if he is able to, will remit over the mobile money platform. However, Jackson does not completely trust mobile money as he remains confused about how it works. His registration for mobile money has been pending for more than a year (it ordinarily takes a day) even though he has been following up with the service provider company regularly. Since Jackson isn’t registered for mobile money himself, he asks the mobile money agent to remit the money on his behalf. This is technically illegal, as mobile money agents are supposed to strictly cash-in/cash-out points. However, many patrons face difficulties with the completion of their registrations, and thus agents will remit the money for them. Typically they do so at the same service fees as those printed on the posters in their shops.

Jackson is part of two formal savings groups. He is the vice chairman of a community savings group. The members of this community savings group contribute 5000 Ugandan Shillings (around $2) twice a month for the development of their community. Jackson is part of another savings group in which members have to deposit 10,000 shillings every Monday. Moreover, two members divide and take home the entire amount (minus 2000 shillings) every Monday. Finally, Jackson is part of another group that meets on Sundays and collects money for events like such as weddings, funerals, amongst others.

We wanted to peruse Jackson’s recent mobile records to get a sense of his voice, text and mobile money use. However, Jackson seldom uses text and hadn’t made any mobile money transactions recently. His ex-mistress had called him up recently to ask him for money. Jackson had to refuse her as he did not have any money he could part with. A few days later however, his ex-mistress turned up at his home with their child on the pretext of making father and son meet. In person, Jackson had to give her some money and other items such as soap.

We went through the calls documented in Jackson’s call log on his mobile phone. The following table provides a quick snapshot of the calls he both made and received, and the nature of the conversations.