Taxi operators defy KCCA on illegal stages

KAMPALA.

Kampala City taxi operators have vowed not to vacate the illegal taxi stages, accusing the Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) of failing to create more parks, which they say would enable them get a good working environment.

This comes barely three weeks after KCCA banned 50 taxi stages in a move aimed at decongesting the city. Some of the illegal stages are Clock Tower, Mini-Price, Namirembe Road, City Square, Nasser Road, Mutasa Kafeero, Mega standard and Bank of Uganda, among others.
A visit by this reporter to the stages reveals that taxis are operating normally without any interference from the KCCA enforcement officers. The chairperson of Drivers and Conductors Central Association, Mr Mustapha Mayambala, told Daily Monitor yesterday that the proposed USAFI Park by KCCA cannot accommodate all taxis operating on illegal stages, warning that if banned without a new area of relocation, tension would erupt.

“We have always advised KCCA to create more parks in all divisions of the city in vain,” Mr Mayambala said.

He castigated KCCA for failure to engage drivers on the new developments. Mr Richard Ssebunya, a taxi driver operating from Clock Tower, said: “Let KCCA give us an alternative because both the old and new taxi parks are full. Even USAFI itself cannot accommodate us.”

KCCA warns
KCCA publicist Peter Kaujju warned that taxi operators defying the law risk being arrested.
“We are planning to create parks in the five divisions of the city but before we embark on this, let taxi operators abide by the law,” he said.

Last month, USAFI Park taxi operators protested the illegal stages, saying that they have made them jobless because most passengers never bother to go to USAFI Park.

angwomoya@ug.nationmedia.com