The Bus Owners have suspended their upcountry operations countrywide following the exorbitant user yearly parking fee of Ugx 2.4 million per bus. The sit down strike that took effect on Tuesday, August 22, 2023, saw passengers stranded in the park.
According to Simon Nsimiire, the Chairperson of United Bus Owners Association, the Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) law enforcement officers closed all bus park entrances and exit gates as they demanded the bus owners to pay for the user parking fee.
He said that, at around 11:00 am, buses decided to halt their services and the passengers who had already paid for their tickets were refunded and told to leave the buses.
Nsimiire noted that, they were not given notice, adding that they have written over 10 petitions to the relevant stakeholders about this fee but unfortunately nothing has come out hence suspending all their operations both in Kampala and upcountry with immediate effect and that no bus was to leave upcountry.
“We woke up like on a normal day, but later the KCCA staff came and closed off all the parks. So the different bus companies are refunding the passengers who had already paid. We have been discussing with the Ministry of Works which is our regulator about this payment, and it’s now over three years,” Nsimiire said.
The bus owners decried to this fee saying that it is high and that the concerned bodies, among them being the Ministry of Works and Transport, and KCCA should reach an agreement and decide on the affordable fee that each bus should pay per month.
However, according to the KCCA Spokesperson, Simon Kasyata, the owners should pay the fees because they get cash from passengers but sadly, they don’t want to pay.
“The passengers pay cash, no passenger boards a bus on credit. Why then don’t they want to pay the fee? Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar,” Kasyata noted.
Nevertheless, some bus companies like Perfect Coaches are still operational and refused to join the strike.
The user parking fee of Ugx 2.4 million paid by each bus is provided for in the law and once collected the money goes to the consolidated fund of government. The authorities made the enforcement because the bus owners have not been compliant for a long time.
