The Government of Uganda is set to commission the Kiira Vehicle Plant, scheduled to take place on Monday, October 7, 2024, in Jinja, Eastern Uganda.

While addressing the press at the Uganda Media Centre on October 4, 2024, the State Minister for Kampala, Kabuye Kyofatogabye, said that the plant is the largest manufacturing facility on the continent and its commissioning will mark a major achievement for the country’s automotive and industrial sectors.

“The Kiira Motors Cooperation, one of Africa’s biggest plants that produces environmentally friendly vehicles, is located on a 100-acre site in Jinja with a production capacity of 2500 vehicles per year and capacity to expand to 5000 vehicles annually,” Kyofatogabye said.

Kyofatogabye also noted that the Kiira vehicle plant has over 163 production stations and currently employs over 200 youths, with plans to expand the workforce to over 900 people as production increases.

The Minister added that the plant has already made 39 Kayoola buses, and 27 of them are electric, which is reducing carbon emissions and promoting sustainable urban transport.

According to Miriam Kabagenyi, a certified electric bus operator, the advantages of electric buses include lower running costs, reduced noise pollution, high resale value, and enabling a clean environment.

Onesmus Kansiime, an environmental activist, says that electric vehicles generate considerably lower emissions over their lifetime than vehicles running on fossil fuels, irrespective of the source that generates the electricity.

Kiira Motors Corporation is a state enterprise established to champion value addition in the nascent motor vehicle industry in Uganda through technology transfer, contract manufacturing, and supply chain localization.

The genesis of Kiira Motors Corporation dates back to 2007, when a team of students and staff (Prof. Sandy Stevens Tickodri-Togboa and Paul Isaac Musasizi) at Makerere University were invited to be part of an international consortium where brains met to showcase different innovations from different universities.

The guest of honour at the commissioning of the Kiira Motors Plant will be H.E. Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, and many partners and stakeholders will be available to showcase one of Africa’s largest bus manufacturing plants.