Taxi Operators Blame KCCA, Police for Kidnaps in Taxi Parks
STORY BY JORDAN MUBANGIZI
Taxi operators under their umbrella body Uganda Transport Development Agency (UTRADA) have accused Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) and the Uganda Police of aiding the recent spate of kidnaps. the latest trend is where the perpetuators target individual using taxis.
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Whereas police says that it is overwhelmed by the situation, taxis operators say the inability by police and KCCA to streamline the industry has led to this.
Kampala is slowly becoming a nightmare for many parents lately.
Downtown Kampala is a beehive of activities and by far the heartbeat of business in the city.
At the centre of downtown are several taxi parks at Namayiba, Namirembe road, Old Taxi Park and New Taxi Park, while other taxis use the available spaces in the city to load and offload passengers.
But behind this taxi business is dark cloud of crime, ranging from drug abuse, pickpocketing, theft and more recently, kidnap for ransom.
To Mustafa Mayambala, criminals who kidnap for ransom have targeted the industry due to the inability of KCCA and the Uganda police to streamline the industry.
From failing the attempts to hold elections for taxi leadership, to high taxes and illegal taxi stages, the industry has been exposed to opportunists that are masterminding crime, the latest being kidnaps. Surprisingly this area has cameras meant to expose crime.
Our efforts to have KCCA comment on the matter were futile since all the officials declined to comment. But police say that with help from the public, the situation will normalize.
