Only registered taxis will be allowed back on city roads as government lifts a ban on public transport tomorrow June 4.
In a meeting held on Tuesday between the minister for Works and Transport, Edward Katumba Wamala, Kampala minister Betty Amongi, Security minister Elly Tumwine, officials from Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) and leaders of taxi operators, it was resolved that only registered taxis will be allowed to operate. The meeting was held at the Office of the Prime Minister.
The registration of taxis is currently ongoing at Kitante primary school and Old Kampala secondary school to assign route numbers and colours for easy identification.
The registration process that started this week was meant to end on June 12 but now Wamala says all taxis shall have to be registered before the process ends. The decision to open only registered taxis was taken despite requests from taxi leaders that they all operate as registration continues.
As taxis return to the roads they are required to have hand washing facilities or sanitisers for passengers to use, taxi operators and passengers should wear masks and any taxi found carrying passengers without masks risks losing their licence. Also, taxis are only permitted to carry half the capacity of the licenced 14 passengers, a decision that could lead to a hike in transport fares.
Wamala says they will continue engaging as government and taxi operators to harmonise on pricing. Mustafa Mayambala, the chairman Uganda Transport Development Agency (UTRADA) says they will comply with the guidelines but raises concern about the number of passengers per taxi and it's effect on pricing.
They have not come up with new rates as they await guidance from government, he says. However, he says that prices will have to rise for operators to compensate on lost passengers.
Meanwhile, KCCA will also start registration of boda bodas in Kampala. This is one of the plans the minister Amongi told leaders of boda boda riders on Tuesday. Amongi says all taxis shall be registered and their associations too.
She says they will also gazette stages for boda bodas. Amongi also says there is a possibility of having a motorcycle lane. The authority is also working on a boda boda free zone where boda bodas shall not be permitted except those providing delivery service. Passenger boda bodas shall be registered by the ministry of Works, said Amongi.
TOUGH CONDITIONS
As part of the guidelines issued ahead of the resumption of public transport, Amongi said taxis should maintain a distance of at least two metres from each other while loading in the parks. Today, KCCA started demarcating parks to show where taxis will park. By 3 pm, they had completed demarcating spaces in Usafi, Kisenyi and the New Taxi Park.
Sserunjogi says that the taxis will have to wait from outside the park until there is space in the parks for them to park and load passengers. No taxi shall be allowed to load from the street, he says. Initially, KCCA had planned to find a waiting area for taxis coming to the parks. But Sserunjoji now says that taxi operators will self coordinate.
The reduction in the number of taxis has sent panic among some operators who says it might be hard for them to operate. For instance, operators from the Old Taxi Park that is under renovation have particularly expressed worry.
Joseph Ssemata from Muyenga stage in the Old Taxi Park says taxi operators are desperate to resume working, yet the authorities are adamant at granting them spaces to operate in. He says he will resume operations from the streets surrounding the Old Taxi Park because that is where he belongs.
Khalid Lutaya, the secretary of Mityana-Mubende stage at Nateete park says he's worried that a number of people who did not operate in parks have been registered to operate from several stages.
At Old Kampala, some of the taxi operators who had come to register revealed that they did not operate from any park. One said he had operated from roadside stages along Bulenga road for years but came to register since KCCA banned roadside stages.
KCCA has gazetted only eight stages in Kampala including the Old Taxi Park, New Taxi Park, Kisenyi, Namayiba, Namirembe, Nateete, Usafi and Nakawa parks.
KCCA has identified stops where passengers can board or disembark from the taxis. Roadside stages have been banned.