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Why Kampala City’s taxis are falling apart
Omnibuses parked in Kisenyi taxi park waiting for passengers. Most of the taxis operating in Kampala City are in dangerous mechanical condition. PHOTO/ANDREW BAGALA
What you need to know:
- Most commuter taxis are in a state of disrepair with falling doors, broken chairs and a sharp part of the seat frame protruding outside.
- Operators decry the 2018 ban on the importation of 15-year-old vehicles.
- A new Toyota Hiace model pays not less than Shs28m in taxes at purchase.
Very old commuter taxis in dangerous mechanical conditions (DMC)are now dominating the public transport service in Kampala City and neighbouring districts, putting the lives of the passengers and other road users in danger.
Most commuter taxis are in a state of disrepair with falling doors, broken chairs and a sharp part of the seat frame protruding outside.
Mr Rashid Ssekindi, the chairperson of Uganda Taxi Operators Federation, said they are aware of the aging fleet of taxis on the roads, especially in the Kampala Metropolitan area. He attributed the problem to the ban on the importation of cheaper older light omnibus model vehicles.
“We understand the pain our passengers go through while commuting in these old passenger vans. But they must also be informed that fewer people are willing to invest in 14-seater commuter taxis because they are too expensive yet the returns are very low,” Mr Ssekindi said.
The 14-seater commuter taxis are the major vehicles used in the public service transport system in Kampala City and its surrounding districts. Most taxis that operate in Kampala City are as old as 30 years.
Mr Ssekindi said commuter taxis were among the vehicles that were targeted with taxes and importation age limit in the government policy to reduce environmentally unfriendly vehicles in the country.
In 2018, the government banned the importation of light omnibuses that are 15 years old or more from the date of manufacture.
“The old taxis are a result of the government policy on vehicles. The price of a used model of Toyota Hiace that is allowed to be imported is between Shs80m and Shs90m. That is the amount we used to buy two taxis before the policy was implemented,” he said.
He said the new omnibus models use a lot of computerised systems and are very expensive to maintain.
“With the traffic jams in Kampala City that limit the number of trips made a day, you can barely run a profitable business when operating new expensive omnibus models. The old Toyota Hiace models of taxis are cheaper and cost-effective when it comes to maintenance,” he said.
He said the government should put a waiver to allow the importation of old models of Toyota Hiace meant for public transport service to ease the pressure.
“The government should either reduce the taxes on passenger service vans or they allow the importation of old cheaper models in Uganda,” he said.
Interior. One of the ramshackled taxi at the Old Taxi Park. PHOTO BY MICHAEL KAKUMIRIZI
A new Toyota Hiace model pays not less than Shs28m in taxes at purchase.
But Mr Peter Kemba, a car salesperson at Jambo Car Bond in Kyambogo, said taxi operators are not buying the new Toyota Hiace models because of ignorance.
“The new models are effective and faster than the old models. Many buyers of Toyota Hiace come with a false and wrong mind set about the new models, but when we take them through the advantage, they appreciate them. The world has changed and new vehicles are computerised. We can’t run away from it. We just need to tell government to train many mechanics who can maintain newer models and solve the problem at hand,” Mr Kemba said.
Mr Kemba said most taxi operators take new omnibus models to mechanics who don’t have knowledge to maintain them thus damaging the systems and causing serious problems.
Kampala Metropolitan Police spokesman Patrick Onyango said they are aware of taxis in poor mechanical condition but they had not concentrated on enforcing standards in the public service sector because they were focused on streamlining the boda boda motorcycle industry.
“We didn’t want to handle many issues at once. If you do that, you will fail to have results. After dealing with indiscipline among boda boda riders, we will target DMCs in the public transport service,” Senior Superintendent of Police Onyango said.
Mr Onyango said for them to carry out operations against DMCs, they have to work with the inspectors of vehicles before DMCs are deregistered.
Passengers speak out
Ms Regina Nakimuli, a regular commuter in taxis and resident of Kigoowa, a Kampala suburb, said most taxis on the Kampala-Ntinda route are very old. She said such taxis operate mostly in the evening and early morning.
“Most of them can’t even fix the seats well. There is one taxi at Nakawa stage that often has a problem with one of its seats. The conductor tied the seat with a rope to hold it firm,” she said.
Ms Nakimuli added: “We board them because we have no alternative means. This is very common especially in the evening when the only available taxi at the stage is very old and yet you want to be in the market or home on time.”
She said the police should enforce traffic standards in taxis, like the now defunct Uganda Taxi Operators and Drivers Association (Utoda) used to routinely do.
Mr Ediriisa Mutabazi, a boda boda rider on Jinja Road, said Luzira-Port Bell route has very many taxis in dangerous mechanic condition, but the police don’t impound them. “One taxi knocked a pedestrian on Luzira-Port Bell Road near the junction to Kinawataka because it failed to brake. The driver took off. The police towed the taxi to its station. But a few days later, I saw it loading passengers in Luzira,” he said.
