Taxi registration exercise will help us clean transport system, says Gen Katumba Wamala

The minister for Works and Transport, Gen Katumba Wamala, has said that the registration of taxis will help government to clean up the transport system which he says was initially ‘hijacked’.

Following the phased return of public transport, Ministry for Kampala and Ministry of Works mandated all taxis and buses to be registered and issued with route charts by Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) before being allowed on the road.

The move attracted backlash from taxi drivers and owners.

Speaking to NBS TV, Gen Katumba said that only those who were making a ‘killing’ from the disorganization are opposed to the idea which is only meant to bring order to public transport.

He said, “This exercise is helping us clean up the transport system. It was initially hijacked by all minds of people. Even to come up with all these details we (had) to engage taxi bodies and groups. We shall still have a meeting with them on Friday. We are helping them to have an organized industry.”

Katumba said that for taxis and buses to be on the road, one must have a PSV license, third party, and advance income payment.

“The law does not allow you to carry people unless you have all the three documents,” Katumba said.

Katumba said they had agreed to have the registration process of taxis to go on until Friday to give the drivers a window to travel back home.

On extending curfew hours

There has been a public outcry to extend curfew hours from 7pm to 10pm to allow drivers and passengers ample to beat curfew.

Asked about the same, Katumba said that people will still be stuck even if the curfew was extended. He urged the public to plan their journeys earlier.

He said: “There has been an argument that we lift the curfew time until 10:00 pm but even if we did, people will still be stuck in traffic. Plan to be early for all your journeys. The car stickers are not mandatory now. However, do not destroy them. In case we backslide so much with the numbers, the medical people may say this is dangerous. Maybe, we go back to the lockdown.”

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