Fred Enanga, the spokesperson of the Uganda Police Force said that many of the drivers had not registered with the city authorities, before returning to the road. Others were abusing the route charts released by Kampala Capital City Authority and loaded more than the authorised number of passengers.
The Uganda police impounded 212 taxis and 47 buses
in Kampala Metropolitan Area on the very day, they returned to the roads for
flouting new rules for their operations in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
President Yoweri Museveni lifted
the ban on public transport on June 1, but with strict restrictions like limiting the number of passengers to half of the vehicle's capacity. He equally instructed that each of the passengers should have a face mask and that the taxi conductor should sanitize passengers before boarding. The drivers were also asked to register with the city authorities before resuming operations.
But Fred Enanga,
the spokesperson of the Uganda Police Force said that many of the
drivers had not registered with the city authorities, before returning to the road. Others were abusing the route charts released by Kampala Capital City Authority and loaded more than the authorised number of passengers.
Enanga said that some of the taxi's had no insurance, while several others were in dangerous
mechanical condition. He warned drivers against flouting the rules,
saying that they will impound any cars that will be found in bleach and it will be harder for owners to get them back.
//Cue in… “now we are...
Cue out…minibuses and buses.”//
Enanga also warned drivers against being incited
into demonstrating against the new rules saying all those who will be got will be dealt with, with a firm hand.
He added that if anyone is dissatisfied with the
new KCCA and government measures, they should petition the rightful authorities other
than going to the streets.
He said this endangers their lives especially at a time when the country is still battling the COVID-19 pandemic. Yesterday, police
battled rowdy taxi drivers who had stormed the Central Police Station demanding
the halting of the registration by KCCA. They said the process was flouted with
bribery and unfairness.
Speaking at the same press conference, Peter Kauju,
the spokesperson of KCCA said they had registered 3,444 taxis as of today.
He said they are not going to allow anybody who has
not been registered, to ply any of the Kampala roads. He equally noted that no
taxi is going to be allowed to ply any route other than that it has
been allocated.
//Cue in… “we are also...
Cue out…. to the vehicles.”//
Kauju, however, couldn’t say how many taxis they are going
to register to work in the designated Kampala parks. The government has indicated that it wants each taxi
working in Kampala to pay 720,000 Shillings every year in taxes.
